One Shots!
by theHumbleGM
Summary: Just a place to drop my one shots! Probably a lot of NaLu with a smattering of Nakama fun!
1. Save Me, Dragon

**Hello readers! Whether you've read my other stories or not, I just want you to know, I appreciate you taking the time to read my work. I'm currently still in my 'down time' but while I was feeding our daughter yesterday, I was scrolling through my Pinterest Writing Prompts board and one stuck out to me so I had to write it. If I write any more oneshots, they'll probably end up here, so make sure to follow if you're interested!**

**Happy reading!**

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**Prompt: You're a dragon who enjoys living a peaceful life away from humans. One day, a princess shows up asking you to kidnap her so she doesn't have to get married.**

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Lucy lengthened her strides even more as she ran.

_We're having company tonight, Lucy._

She barely skirted a large root poking out of the ground. As she made it passed, she fought to keep breathing.

_It's a rather good friend of mine and his grandson._

The skirt of her dress caught on a pricker bush, but she kept running, ripping the fabric without a care.

_I've been thinking it's time for you to settle down_.

Lucy's foot caught on a small root, hidden by some brush, and tripped. Unable to catch her balance, she rolled down a steep incline. She rolled to a stop in a large clearing, where she curled up and tried to catch her breath as tears filled her eyes.

_His grandson will be a good match for you_.

She'd stopped listening then. She didn't care whose son he was, or how much money he had, or how good a match he was for a princess. She didn't want to marry him.

She didn't want to marry ever.

Lucy had never enjoyed being a princess. Rather, she hadn't enjoyed it since her mother passed away. As a little girl, she'd enjoyed the stories about white knights saving the princess from the dragon. She'd enjoyed the tea parties and balls she'd hosted in her room. She'd enjoyed listening to her subjects, her stuffed animals, as they'd told her their troubles, and enjoyed telling them how she would help. She'd enjoyed dressing up in her extravagant dresses with her mother and learning how to be a proper princess.

So for a while, she had enjoyed being a princess.

But not anymore.

Especially not since her eighteenth birthday. Her father had introduced her to suitor after suitor, agreeing, after a lot of negotiating, to allow her to meet them before having her choose one to be her husband.

That had been almost six months ago, though.

Now her father was refusing to give her anymore time, and Lucy had yet to meet a man who captivated her enough that she wanted to marry him. They were all either too old or too young, too stuffy or too arrogant, too cold or too chauvinist. Not one had been even close to what she wanted in a husband.

That could be her fault, she supposed. She was hoping for something very rare, something she wasn't likely to find, no matter how hard she looked.

She wanted what her parents had had. She wanted mutual caring and trust. She wanted someone she could talk to and would talk to her in return. Someone who would value her input- someone who would even seek her opinion on occasion as they ruled over Fiore together.

She wanted love.

But that wasn't to be.

She didn't know much about the son of her father's advisor, but she knew he wasn't her type. His grandfather had always been kind to her, acting more like family than one of her father's advisors. She'd always enjoyed seeing him, but that wasn't enough to convince her to marry his grandson.

She'd seen Laxus a few times at the castle, but she'd always avoided talking to him. Sure, he was handsome and very physically fit, an uncommon trait among the hierarchy, but he always sported a frown, and walked around like he owned the place. Not only that, he had his own bunch of followers who worshipped the ground he walked on, and they were constantly at his side. She didn't want a husband who needed that constant ego trip at his side.

Lucy finally released her legs and then sat up, rubbing the tears from her eyes as she did so. Her guard would no doubt find her soon, and it wouldn't do for him to see her in this state, no matter how loyal he was.

If only she could marry Loke…

Not that she liked him in that way, per se, but he was a better choice for her than any of the ones her father had presented. She enjoyed Loke's company, and while he was a little over the top, she knew he at least wouldn't try to trap her into the traditional role as queen. He would talk to her and consult her when making plans for the kingdom, and would treat her well, not just as a trophy wife.

The hair on the back of her neck suddenly stood up and she slowly dropped her arms as she looked around. At first she didn't see it, hidden as it was in the shade of the thick trees, but once she did, she couldn't look away.

_A dragon_…

Natsu stared at the human as she stared at him, surprised she had noticed him. She'd been making so much noise with her running and wailing, he thought for sure she would move on without ever seeing him there.

Not that he couldn't still erase himself from her memories, he'd just been hoping he wouldn't have to bother. He had a reputation to protect after all, being what he was…

"You're a dragon," the human whispered. Her voice washed over him, surprising him with its lack of fear and hysteria. Most humans who saw him ran for cover, or begged for their lives.

But not this one. She sounded almost… hopeful.

He shifted a little, sinking into the shadows a little more, curious how she would respond.

She surprised him yet again.

"Wait!" She slapped her hand over her mouth as she scrambled to her feet, her eyes darting around the clearing in search of something. "Please wait," she said, her voice much quieter.

Obviously she knew he could hear her, but why was she talking so quietly? Was she being chased? Is that why she was so upset when she'd first appeared?

"Please, don't go," she said, her steps slow and careful as she approached him.

Natsu, still not sure how to react, moved forward, pushing his head past the line of trees into the light. The human's eyes widened as he revealed himself, but still she didn't run.

"I always thought you guys were a myth," she breathed.

"A myth?"

Her eyes bugged out of her head. "You can talk."

Natsu chuckled, amused by this strange human. "You're weird, you know that?"

"I am not!" she argued.

"Really? You're talking to a dragon. A human's usual response would be to run or at least try to hide. Not only are you not doing that, you actually _asked_ me not to leave. I'd say that's plenty weird."

"Well… it is… strange, I suppose-"

"Strange is just another word for weird."

"-but I have a good reason for it!"

Natsu snorted, causing clouds of smoke to surround Lucy. She coughed, stepping back to avoid breathing in too much. "Hey!"

"Not my fault you were too close." He continued before she could argue with him. "So, do you wanna tell me why you're out here? Humans don't generally venture this far out into these woods. And they _definitely_ don't just stand around when there's a dragon present so they can be eaten."

"Well I was…" Her eyes widened. "Eaten?"

Natsu grinned, displaying his sharp teeth. "What did you think dragons did with humans?"

She gulped, the noise clearly audible to him. It was almost too easy to tease her. When she took a small step back, his grin increased. Somehow, his reaction caused her to lose her fear. She straightened her spine and stepped even closer, a determined glint in her eyes.

"I know you don't eat _all_ the humans you find. Some of you kidnap princesses and hide them in your towers or your nests as part of your hoard."

Natsu was surprised to hear that. It was true the dragons continued to encourage the rumors that they ate humans in an effort to keep them away, but he'd never heard anything about them _capturing_ humans. "We do, do we?" he said.

"Yes, and that's exactly what I want you to do."

Natsu was surprised by the odd request. "You want me to _capture_ you? Why would you want that?"

"Because then I wouldn't have to marry my father's stupid suitor."

With a frown, Natsu finally studied the human more fully. Her blonde hair was filled with leaves and small sticks from her tumble down the hill, but it had obviously been put up in some elaborate fashion prior, and there were even small pearls hanging haphazardly from the loose strands. Not to mention her dress was made of very fine material and covered in more pearls and small gems. She was probably a princess, wearing all that finery.

The gold at her throat and on her hands caught and held his attention. The desire to take them burned, but he held back. At the moment, he was more interested in the human than he was the gold, which might have been the biggest surprise of the day.

"You want me to take you so you don't have to get married?" He chuckled, the noise making the ground around them shake. "You really are a strange one, human."

"My name is Lucy."

"Okay Luigi."

The human frowned and planted her hands on her hips. "It's Lucy!"

"Alright, alright." Natsu stood and moved fully into the clearing. He was so large, he had to arrange himself in a circle, filling almost the entire outside of the clearing. Lucy moved into the middle of the space, her eyes so wide Natsu could clearly make out the color of her eyes. She fiddled with her rings, finally appearing as scared as she should have from the beginning. "I have a question," he asked as he finished settling in.

"What is that?"

"What was the plan, exactly, when you ran out here?"

The human looked even more uncertain as she fiddled with her fingers. "What do you mean?"

"You ran into _these_ woods," he said with a tilt of his head. "The most dangerous place for humans for a good distance, with no horse and no help. What were you hoping to find out here?" He squinted at her. "Did you really come out here trying to _find_ a dragon?"

The human lifted her chin but didn't meet his eyes. "Not exactly."

"Hoping then?" The human didn't respond, but he could hear her heartbeat increase. "That's pretty stupid, human."

"Lucy." She tilted her head to meet his gaze. "And what if I did? Death would be preferable to dealing with my father's current plans."

"Oh really?" Natsu couldn't help himself as he opened his mouth, saliva dripping from his maw as he grinned at her, his teeth fully exposed. He leaned down towards her, stopping before he dripped on her dress. "Would you like me to take care of that for you?"

"I'd like it if you'd stop doing that."

"Doing what?" Natsu studied her carefully as he spoke. She was looking rather fierce at the moment, and he found that he enjoyed it. Humans never stood up to him.

"Trying to scare me," she answered with another lift of her chin. "If you were going to eat me, you would've done it already, so I'm not scared of you anymore."

Natsu squinted at her as he lowered his head. "Liar." He could tell she was still a little scared, but she was being brave despite that.

He was rather impressed.

"I can hear your heartbeat beating too fast and your breathing is too shallow, which means you're still scared."

"That doesn't matter," she said furiously. "Either help me or eat me. I don't care which anymore."

Suddenly, Natsu began to laugh. He was so loud, Lucy had to work to maintain her balance as the ground shook. When he fell onto his side, rolling and knocking over trees, she also ended up on the ground. "Why are you laughing at me?"

"Because you look so serious!" His laughter slowly died off, and he turned his head towards her to watch her get back up to her feet. "Are you going to leave now?"

She glared at him with her hands on her hips. "Why won't you just answer me?"

"That wouldn't be any fun," he said.

"If you won't help me, I'm going to leave." She looked around once more. "My guard will catch up eventually."

They stared at each other for a long moment before Natsu rolled back onto his stomach. "What do I get out of it?"

"My gratitude?" He scoffed, and she began to wring her hands again. "What do you want?"

"Well, I'm not used to having company in my nest. Although… I suppose there is that little tower nearby you could stay in." Suddenly, his whole face lit up. "And you're a princess! Which means people will be looking for you and that'll give me someone to fight!" He leaned forward so that he was inches away from her. "Give me that necklace you're wearing for my hoard and you're on, human."

"Lucy," she said again as she unclasped the chain from around her neck and held it out. He took it eagerly and then carefully picked her up and held her to his chest.

"I'm Natsu," he said before taking off. Her sudden cry was short lived as all the air was sucked out of her lungs and he headed for his nest, his newest acquisition firmly in hand.

As they flew off, Lucy felt all her fears and doubts fall away as quickly as the ground below them, making her feel free for the first time.

How ironic that she only felt that way while being kidnapped by a dragon.


	2. The War Won't Take Him

**This bad boy is based on an idea I had for a multichapter fic. I may write it some day, but in the meantime, I came up with this. Happy Friday kids!**

**(Feel free to shoot me a message if you have a request! I have my own ideas, of course, but I welcome input from others.)**

**Larissa and stranger 1999- We'll see :)**

**As always, happy reading!**

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"But I don't want him to go!"

"Lucy-"

"Don't _Lucy_ me!" The blonde fought to keep her tears in check but failed. They slid down her cheeks and dripped off her chin where they soaked into her dress. "You can't send him, Father. _You can't_."

Jude inhaled and let out a noisy breath. "Lucy, we have to send him. The king-"

"I don't care what the king said! _He's not going!_"

"Lucy…" Jude's voice was quiet. "We can't refuse the king."

A sob escaped her mouth before she was able to stifle it. She grabbed her skirts and then turned to run- out of the room, down the hallway and down the stairs. She didn't stop until she made it outside into the gardens. With her hands on her knees, she leaned forward, gasping for breath, both because of the run and because of her tears.

She hated the war.

The war had taken her mother. The war had taken her friends, Loke and Gray. The war had tried to take her father.

And now it was taking…

She fell onto her mother's swing, the tears clouding her vision so much she couldn't make out the stars above her. "Mom…" Lucy's voice broke as she gasped for breath. "Mom, I don't know what to do. I… I can't…" She squeezed her eyes shut, her voice barely above a whisper. "I can't lose him, too…"

She didn't know how long she laid there before he arrived. Warm hands lifted her into a sitting position and pulled her against a hard body. She wrapped her arms around him as a fresh wave of tears fell from her eyes.

"Oh, Lucy…"

"You can't go," she whispered. "You can't."

"I have to, Luce." Natsu pulled away a little so he could lift her face. He wiped away her tears with his thumbs and gave her a little smile. "You're powerful, Luce, but not even the Heartfilias can refuse the king."

Lucy's lip trembled. "But I want to."

He chuckled and then pulled her close again. "I tell you what, Luce. I'll take you with me. One tongue lashing from you and they'll all run for the hills."

A hiccup cut off her laugh, but that didn't stop her from continuing. "I think you're mistaking me for Erza."

Natsu chuckled. "She's scary, no doubt, but at the moment, I think you're even scarier than she is."

"Good." She pulled away to clean off her face. "I'll go pack a bag then. The sooner this war is over the better."

Natsu didn't comment as he held out a handkerchief which Lucy took to wipe off her face. Once she was done, she looked up at the stars. Natsu followed her lead, allowing her to lead the conversation at her own pace.

"I don't want you to go," she eventually whispered.

"I know," he said.

"Do you know how long you'll be gone?"

Natsu shook his head a little. "I'm not sure."

Lucy shot to her feet and began to pace. "You can't, I won't let you."

"Luce-"

She cut him off as she rambled, on and on. He watched her for a while, letting her wear herself out a bit before he stood and caught her by the arm.

"You can't," she whispered. "If I lose you, too…"

The war had taken too much already. If it took her best friend, too, she didn't think she could go on anymore.

Natsu had been a part of her household ever since her mother had found him at a slave market while she was very young. Her mother had always opposed the use of slaves, and seeing a young child among those poor, dirty souls had made her so angry, she'd interrupted the auction and demanded they give her the child. They'd resisted, of course, but her mother had always had a way with words and in no time at all, she'd had him released and brought him home. He'd been taught how to clean and fight, been given a room and wage for working in the house, and when he'd gotten older, been given the position of Lucy's personal guard.

Not to mention, he'd been one of Lucy's closest friends. And when they'd gotten older…

Natsu sighed and kissed her forehead. "You worry too much, love."

"You're going to _war_, Natsu! People are fighting and _dying_, and you're acting like this is no big deal!"

He grasped her by the back of the neck and pulled her close for a kiss. Lucy stiffened, but then threw her arms around his neck as she pressed against him. She deepened the kiss, but all too soon he was pulling away. Before she could ask why, one of the patrolling guards passed by. He nodded at Natsu and gave her a brief bow before continuing on.

With a sigh, Natsu took Lucy's hands in his. "Luce, I don't want you to worry while I'm gone."

"That's not going to happen," she warned him.

"I want you to try anyway." He gave her his signature grin, his sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight. "You know nothing is going to happen to me, right?"

"How could I know that?"

"Luce, it's fighting!" He squeezed her hands. "When have I ever lost a fight?"

"All the time against Gray."

"I did not lose to that ice clown, we tied!"

"You weren't fighting to the death," she said, her throat closing up as she was reminded of their friend.

"Doesn't matter. I beat everyone else, didn't I? Especially when it mattered, I came out on top."

"But what if-"

"No buts." He lifted her hands to his face so he could kiss her knuckles. "Lucy, I'm coming back."

"But-"

"_No buts_." He took her face between his hands and pulled her close so she could see how serious he was. "Lucy, you know I would never lie to you, so I want you to listen to me, okay?" When she nodded, he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers. "I am going to come back, okay? I promise you, no king or army or war is going to keep me away from you.

"I will _always_ come back to you, okay? I promise. I'll be back before you know it."

Lucy's eyes had fluttered close, but she opened them again and pulled back so she could see his eyes. "You promise?"

Natsu smiled again, a softer smile this time that he only let her see.

"I promise."


	3. Cereal

**Prompt: "Who wouldn't be angry? You ate all of my cereal and faked your death for three years!"**

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"Nooooo!" Levy flipped the page over to check the back and then looked up at Lucy with wide eyes. "Where's the rest! Don't tell me this is all there is!"

Lucy laughed. "I told you I'm not done yet."

"Lucy Heartfilia, how _dare_ you tease me like this!" Levy groaned. "This is so good… I don't want to wait! Tell me what happens!"

"I can't," Lucy chuckled. "I'm not done yet."

"Surely you have some idea!"

Instead of answering, Lucy pushed her plate forward, offering her cookies. "What one?"

"Lucy!"

"I kind of know, but I want to finish writing it before I say anything. I'm still working through some details, okay?"

"Fine…" Levy stuck out her lower lip. "You're such a tease, Lu."

"I'm sorry," she answered without any remorse. "I need another tea. You want one? I'm buying."

"It's the least you can do for me," Levy said, a smile starting to show.

Lucy got up and moved into the line. She dug into her purse for her wallet and ended up dropping her sunglasses case. They bounced off the ground and landed in front of the foot of the man in front of her. He glanced down just as she cursed under her breath.

"I'm so sorry," she said as she secured her purse in one hand so she could retrieve them.

"No problem," he said as he bent down to grab the case. He handed it to her with a smile. "Here you go."

"Thanks," she said with a smile. As she looked at him, she couldn't help but feel as though she'd seen him before.

"It's not a problem," he said before turning around again.

Lucy pulled out her phone and responded to a message from her father. As she was looking down, she became distracted by a loud voice. "Oy, what are you doing?"

The man in front of her moved a little, stepping back close enough he almost bumped her phone. "I'm grabbing a cup for Juvia, what does it look like?"

"Why didn't you already get one? We're going to be late!"

Lucy's heart stuttered and her fingers froze. _No… it couldn't be._

"You know what, Flamebrain, maybe if you were a little more considerate of people, you'd be able to land a girlfriend and you would understand."

"Not interested," the voice said.

Lucy's hands shook slightly as she began to lift her head. Another man had joined the one in front of her, wearing a worn pair of jeans and a red shirt. An achingly familiar white scarf was hanging down his back and as her eyes finally reached the stock of pink hair on his head, she wasn't sure if she was even still standing. A noise left her throat, a cross between a gasp and a moan. The new man turned her way and her suspicions were confirmed.

"Natsu…"

He was equally shocked as he slowly turned and stared at her. "Lucy?"

Her phone dropped from her hands and she stepped back, completing oblivious of her phone bouncing across the floor. It managed to bounce into the other man in front of her. He turned around with a grin, but that grin vanished as he looked between her and his friend.

If he said anything, the pair didn't notice. Lucy's eyes filled with tears as Natsu's face paled. Without a word, Lucy suddenly ripped her phone out of his hand and turned away. Natsu lifted a hand but she was already out the door. A short woman with blue hair watched her go with a frown and then quickly grabbed her things to follow.

"What the hell was that?" Gray asked.

Natsu couldn't answer. Could it really be her? After all this time?

_Lucy…_

He didn't answer his friend. Instead, he followed Lucy out the door. When he exited the shop, he looked both ways but didn't see her. On a hunch, he turned left and began to walk. He'd always had an uncanny ability to find her when she was upset, and he was reasonably surprised to find that he still had that ability. There was a bookstore on the corner, and through the window, he could see tables set up along the back wall.

He let himself into the store and with a short wave at the person behind the counter, he made his way to the back of the shop. As he passed the last row of books, he found what he expected to find.

Lucy was sitting at the table in the corner, her head in her hands and her shoulders shaking. Natsu came to a stop as he racked his brain, trying to figure out what he could say.

Before he could find the right words, she sat up to wipe at her face, but stopped as she spotted him. Readying himself for more tears, he made his way towards her. He stopped when he made it to her table. He glanced at the counter, and noticed that the worker had conveniently disappeared. "Lucy-"

Natsu grunted as he slammed into the wall. In a daze, he crumbled to the ground with no idea how he'd gotten there.

"How _dare _you." He looked up and found Lucy standing over him.

"Lucy-"

"Why?" she asked. "Tell me why you did it."

Natsu sighed as he slowly got to his feet. "I can see you're angry."

"Of course I am! Who wouldn't be angry? You ate all of my cereal and faked your death for three years!"

He itched the back of his head. "Well, I wouldn't say I _faked my death_."

"Your car went into a river and you and your brother disappeared! What else would you call that? We knew you two were in it together, so everyone assumed you both drowned!"

"What?! I'm a great swimmer, I would never drown!"

"Natsu, YOU DISAPPEARED AFTER YOUR CAR WAS IN AN ACCIDENT!" Tears streamed down Lucy's face as she finally stood, ignoring everything else around her. "WE ALL THOUGHT YOU _DIED!_"

"Well obviously I didn't."

Lucy slapped him. The crack sounded through the store but Lucy didn't seem to care. "We mourned you," she said with a broken voice. "Even my father… and you're still _here_." She pressed her lips together. "Why?"

"Did I eat the cereal? I was hungry! I can replace it if you want-"

"Not _that_," she growled

"Then what?"

"Why didn't you tell us you were still alive?!"

He rubbed the back of his head. "It's kind of a long story."

Lucy didn't say anything, she just glared at him.

"Okay! Well… the short version is there were people after Zeref and when we were on our way home that night, they ran us off the road. We managed to get out, but the guys were on the bank looking for us, so we swam to the other side. We got help from some friends of his, but we had to leave town. He was worried about my safety, since they'd seen me with him, so he insisted we both stay away until we figured things out.

"We still haven't," he said, "so I haven't been able to go home yet."

"You could have at least called and let us know you were okay."

Natsu shook his head. "I couldn't put any of you in danger like that. Leaving was hard, but I knew it would keep you all safe."

Lucy ignored the tears in her eyes as she glared at him. "You should have at least told _me._"

Natsu's head snapped up, his eyes bright. "I would _never_ risk your safety like that. I wouldn't risk anyone's, but _especially_ not yours, Luce. You know that."

She sucked in a breath, a little dazed by the intensity in his stare. Neither of them looked away as their glares dissolved. They both scanned the other, looking for any noticeable changes.

"You got a little taller," Lucy mused.

"And you got a little weirder." Lucy smacked him, but her anger had lessened considerably so it didn't hurt. Natsu grinned, but before he could say anything else, he watched as her face slowly crumbled. As her eyes squeezed shut and her tears leaked out again, he pulled her roughly against his chest. "Luce, you know I can't stand when you do that…"

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She clung to him, squeezing him so hard Natsu had to fight a little to breathe. "I thought you were gone…"

"I know." He moved closer, reveling in having his best friend once more in his arms. "I missed you."

"Not nearly as much as I missed you."

"I definitely missed you more."

"Did not."

"Did, too."

"Did not."

Natsu bit his tongue, allowing her to cry herself out. As much as he hated her tears, he knew they were necessary so he did his best to hide his discomfort. As he rubbed her back, he buried his nose in her hair, surprised and delighted to find it still smelled the same as the last time he'd seen her.

When she finally spoke again, Natsu almost missed it.

"I accept by the way."

Natsu pulled away slightly. "Accept what?"

"Your offer to replace the cereal."

He laughed as she pulled away and wiped her face. While she was distracted, Natsu wiped his own away before she could see. "Well I certainly owe you."

"You're damn right you do. You ate _seven_ boxes!"

"Who keeps that many boxes on hand?"

"Someone with _you_ for a best friend." As she stood, the store clerk conveniently came back out and busied herself at the front desk. Lucy took a deep breath and looked up at him with a small smile. "Are you up for a coffee? It'd be nice if we could catch up. Maybe I could get your number?"

"Luce-"

Her face instantly darkened. "I already know you're alive, Natsu, so there's no reason to hide from me anymore. Besides, I haven't been home since…" She looked away. "A long time."

"I was just going to say that I have to get ahold of Gray. We have plans." Natsu grinned. "On second thought, nevermind. The icy bastard deserves it after last weekend." He slung an arm around Lucy and he began to steer her towards the front door. "Although you should let _your_ friend know what's going on."

"I already texted her. We're going to get together tomorrow." She waved to the woman behind the desk and then looked up at Natsu. "So what exactly did your friend do last weekend? And what plans are you bailing on?"

Natsu grinned as they exited the shop, his heart lighter than it had been in some time. He'd hated having to leave his hometown, but the thing that had hurt most was leaving Lucy. Now that she knew the truth, he didn't think there was anything that could ruin his mood.

They walked back towards the cafe as Natsu answered her questions, loudly and with overly exaggerated gestures. Neither paid any attention to anything around them… or anyone.

The clerk pulled out her phone and made a call.

"What is it? Your check-in isn't until next week."

"You'll never guess who I just found," she said with a slow smile.

"... Is it him?"

"Yes," she purred. "And you'll _never_ guess who he was with."


	4. Not Quite Deja Vu

**Honestly not sure where this came from... I fel like I should let you guys know I don't proofread these. I fix my spelling as I go, but the repetitive words, or checking how my paragraphs are broken up or anything like that, so I apologize in advance for the errors you find.**

**Thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

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It started off small- little things she didn't notice right away.

He held her hand at weird times. He brought her drinks and food at the guild hall when he went to get some for himself. He got her little gifts when they went to new places. He'd even used her front door without her asking!

Not all the time, of course, but even once should have tipped her off that something was up.

"Natsu, what's this?"

"Was wa?" he asked, mouth full of food.

Lucy leaned over and smacked him, making him choke. "We're literally going to the guild hall _right now_ to get food! Get out of my fridge!"

Natsu managed to catch his breath and swallow his food in time for her to ask him again, "What is this?"

He looked at the table and then away again with an impatient expression. "What do you mean?"

Lucy leaned down to smell the flowers, surprised by how potent they were. "The flowers. Why did you get them for me?"

"I just got them," he said without looking at her. "I thought they'd look nice in your apartment." He shot to his feet. "Can we go now? I'm hungry."

"Uh, sure. Just let me grab my purse."

However, she stared at the bouquet a moment longer before moving. It was half red and half orange, a strange combination, but it felt familiar to her.

She wasn't sure why.

* * *

The first time she really started questioning things was when they were on a job. They had finished and agreed to share a room before heading home in the morning, since they'd finished so late. Usually they wouldn't waste their money, but the job had been a profitable one, and after multiple days without a shower, Lucy was desperate for a shower. Natsu had agreed to order food while she was in the bathroom, and as she turned off the water, she could hear an unfamiliar voice in the other room.

She grabbed the towel off the counter, and as she wrapped it around her, she realized it was warm- hot almost. The bathroom was by no means cold, but the warm towel still felt amazing wrapped around her wet body. She sighed happily when she realized the second one was as well, so she quickly wrapped it around her head. Lucy was so content being wrapped up in the warm towels that she barely got mad when she realized Natsu would have had to enter the bathroom to warm them up.

Because who else would have done such a thing?

Again, she got that strange feeling that she could remember something like this happening before but she couldn't figure out why.

* * *

"I don't understand Lucy."

"He's being _weird_," she said again.

"Yeah, I get that," Levy said with a smile. She took a sip of her tea as the ruckus of the guildhall flowed around them. "What I don't understand is why you're letting it bother you all of a sudden. He's always been weird."

"Yes, but this is _different_ weird," Lucy insisted.

"How so?" Levy asked, leaning forward.

"He's been… I don't know how to describe it." The blonde sighed. "He's bought me gifts recently. Nothing big, but there haven't been any holidays or anything, he's just been doing it to be nice. And just the other day, he came over and _brought food with him_. He's never done that! He once came over and literally cleaned out my cupboards before leaving! He's just been more… _considerate_ for lack of a better word."

Levy giggled. "He's not a monster, Lu. He may be a little reckless-"

"Little?"

"-sometimes-"

"_Sometimes?!_"

"-but he's a good guy! It sounds to me like he's just be nice."

Lucy leaned forward so she could grab Levy by the shoulders. She leaned in and gave Levy her most serious look. "Levy, on our last job, we fought in a _garden_ and there was not _one single_ unnecessary plant burned up. Normally he'd have set the whole thing on fire! It's the first time in I don't remember how long that we didn't have to pay for damages out of our reward!"

Levy shrugged off her concern once more. "Sounds to me like he's just growing up."

"That's very Natsu at all!"

The blunette shrugged again. "It happens to everyone eventually."

"What was that, you pervy popsicle?!" Natsu's voice cut through the rest of the noise. The pair looked up in time to see Natsu and Gray knock heads.

"You heard me, you dumb pyro! Or are you going deaf, too?"

As they started yet another fight, Lucy gave Levy a look as she gestured at the pair. "Growing up? Really?"

Levy's only response was a shrug.

* * *

"Okay, that's it!"

Natsu jumped, falling off the couch as Lucy's outburst in the quiet apartment startled him. "What was that for?" he asked as he rubbed his butt.

"I can't stand this anymore! What are you doing?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow at her. "I was just sitting here. You're the one who's freaking out over nothing."

"That's my _point_," she said, exasperated. "You're being quiet. Why are you being quiet?! Normally you'd be pestering me, or eating my food, or sleeping in my bed. But you're not! You're just… _sitting _there! What is wrong with you?"

He continued to watch her as though she'd gone crazy. "So you _want_ me to bother you then?"

"Yes! Well, no- I don't know!" She put her face in her hands and growled. "I want you to act _normal_."

When she finally removed her hands, she found Natsu staring across the room, looking guilt as he rubbed the back of his head. Why did he look guilty? She had yelled at him, sure, but even she knew, in a small, buried part of her brain, that she was the one being crazy. Unless…

"You've been doing it on purpose, haven't you?"

Natsu's eyes shot to her own for only a moment before he looked away again. "Maybe," he mumbled quietly.

"Why?" she asked. "I was starting to think I was going crazy! Even Levy said she didn't think it was a big deal, but for all the years I've known you, your behavior has never changed this drastically." She frowned a little. "Did I do something?"

Natsu met her eyes for a little while, but as his cheeks began to pinken, he looked away again. "Kind of."

"Well, what was it?"

Natsu shot to his feet and began to pace. He looked so uncomfortable, Lucy didn't say anything as he fought for the right words. It was so unlike him, to have to find the right words for anything. Usually, he either didn't have anything to say or he said whatever came to mind, consequences be damned.

"You know I'm no good at this," he eventually said as he paused in his pacing to look at her. "I'm no good with… words. I like my actions to speak for me, so this is just… hard. And weird. And awkward. Gaaaahh," he groaned. "This is just so _awkward!_"

"You're doing it again," she said.

"Doing what?"

Lucy gestured between them. "This. This feeling that this is familiar, even though I don't know why." Lucy's eyes widened. "Wait a minute…"

For some reason, Natsu suddenly looked relieved. "Thank the gods."

"You're acting out my old story!" She sputtered. "You don't even like to read!"

"I like _your _stuff," he said.

"I can't believe… _why?_" She frowned at him. "Why are you acting out my book?"

Natsu whined. "Come on, Luce, you were supposed to figure this out already!"

"Figure what out?!" Lucy was at the end of her patience. His inconsistent behavior and these almost deja vu moments had been bothering her for _weeks_, and now that she knew what was happening, all she wanted was his reason for why. Did he have to be so difficult about answering her? "Just answer me," she begged. "Why have you been acting so weird?"

"Because I thought if I did the things your main dude did in the story, you'd realize that I…" He stalled, his face, ears and neck all turning a bright red. "I was hoping you'd… realize…" He mumbled, his words too garbled for her to understand.

But she didn't have to hear them for her to finally understand.

She could feel her face grow just as hot as his looked. "You wanted me to figure out that you… like me?"

He nodded, his eyes firmly locked onto something on the far wall. "It's not a big deal or anything, it's just… I finally realized it and I thought you should know. After all the teasing everyone had done, I thought you should know they were right, at least about me." Natsu's eyes flicked towards her and away so quickly she almost missed it.

"Oh." She felt dumb. How had she not seen it? It embarrassed her to realize Natsu had found _that _story, the one with the main character who was suspiciously similar to him. Perhaps that was why he'd liked it.

She wasn't sure how to respond, honestly. They'd been dodging around the subject of feelings, of having any deeper than what friends had for each other, for so long, she wasn't sure what to say.

Because of course she liked him, too. She loved the fool, but she'd never expected there to be a chance for them, so she'd never let herself think about her feelings or the possibilities too much.

Natsu grunted. "Nevermind, I'm just going to go."

Lucy stumbled forward, barely catching him before he reached her window. "No, Natsu, wait."

"It's okay, Luce, you don't have to say anything."

"I like you, too," she blurted out.

_Well great job, Luce_, she mentally scolded herself. _You can do better than that_. She squeezed his arm where she'd caught him and once more marvelled at the difference. She was pale and soft, where he was tan and hard. It never escaped her just how much stronger he was than her, and yet, he'd never once hurt her, not on purpose anyway. The occasionally falling tree, a flame, just a little too close on occasion, but he'd always kept his strength in check when they touched.

"I like you, too," she repeated, "but I just always assumed you didn't like me like that. If you did, I thought you would have said something by now. You usually go after whatever you want, so I figured if you weren't trying to… get me, than you didn't want to be with me."

"Well that's just stupid," Natsu said, smiling when she glared at him. "Of course I want to be with you. It's always more fun when we're together, right? You're the one who said that."

"And yet, you just accepted it as a friend thing. Idiot."

"Oy! You didn't try to pursue anything either!" he pointed out.

Lucy nodded, which led to a long awkward pause between them. After some avoided eye contact and fidgeting, Natsu finally stepped closer. He started to reach for her hand, but paused halfway there. Lucy reached forward the rest of the way. He grinned at her and she at him as the tension drained from the room.

"So, does this mean we're a thing then?" he asked.

"I- I guess so. If you want to."

Natsu groaned. "I didn't bring this up because I wanted half answers, Luce. Do you wanna date me or not?"

Lucy grinned a little at his annoyed look before she nodded. "I _think _I would like that." His eyes flashed, and he geared up for a heated response, but Lucy leaned forward and cut him off with her mouth on his.

His lips were softer than she expected, and just as hot as the rest of his skin. She didn't push him, just pressed her lips against his for a few seconds before pulling back. He stared at her stupidly, completely shocked. "I wasn't expecting that," he said eventually.

"Well, I'm glad I can still surprise you."

He studied her for a long moment, making her feel a little uncomfortable. "Can we do that again?" he asked after a moment.

Lucy grinned. "Sure."

Much later, they would finally remember that they had planned to go to the guildhall and make their way across town. They'd hold hands, blushing a little when their eyes would meet. Lucy would enter the hall first, letting go of Natsu's hand just before she went through the door. They'd order food and eat with the rest of their team, silently agreeing to keep their new relationship a secret for a little while. They'd joke and laugh, and when Natsu eventually challenged Gray, Lucy would let him hide behind her to avoid Erza's wrath. And when they sat together, if they occasionally sneaked a touch or handhold, who would notice, considering everything else happening in the guild?

"Hand it over, shrimp. Twenty bucks."

Levy pouted as she pulled out the money and put it in Gajeel's hand. "You cheated."

"Gihi, whatever makes you feel better," he said with a grin as he tucked the money away.

Levy turned towards him with scrutinizing eyes, and Gajeel did his best not to cower. That probing look always made him feel uncomfortable and exposed. He crossed his arms and frowned at her. "What?"

"You really didn't talk to him about it? Or maybe ask him if he liked her?"

"Nope," he said, popping the p.

Levy frowned some more but eventually turned back to watch her friend, a smile sliding onto her face when Lucy gave Natsu a particularly soft smile. "Well, even if you did, I guess I don't mind. It's a small price to pay for Lucy's happiness. She deserves that, after everything that's happened." Relieved the questioning was over, Gajeel changed the subject, thankful when Lily joined them shortly after.

He wasn't in the habit of lying to Levy, and he wasn't about to start now, but if she started asking the right questions…

He hadn't asked the idiot anything, but he might have slipped him a copy of Lucy's short story, with a protag suspiciously similar to the Salamander, that he'd found in one of Levy's books. After looking through it himself, he'd found it pretty obvious what was going on, but since Levy had been so adamant about it not being the case because "Lucy would tell me if she liked Natsu!" he'd decided to take the opportunity to make a few bucks. And if it helped Salamander man up in the process…?

Gajeel glanced at the pair, who were holding hands under the table again with their team completely unaware.

Well, if it helped Salamander, that wasn't such a bad thing, he guessed.

Not that he liked the other dragon slayer or wanted to help him in any way.

Nope.

Not at all.


	5. Cursed

**This one is Levy/Gajeel based on another prompt from my Pintrest ****board. **

**To paraphrase, you have a curse that makes people see you as their form of beautiful and then one day you meet someone who can describe exactly what you look like.**

* * *

"And then he just _exploded_ in fire! Everyone else in the lab started going _crazy_, thinking he'd hurt himself! He was testing out a new fireproof jumpsuit, but he'd been so excited about the test run, he completely forgot to tell us what he was doing!"

Levy chuckled as her date finished his story and dug back into his food. He was nice, she decided. He'd opened the door to the restaurant for her. He'd told her at the beginning he was planning on paying and that she should get whatever she wanted. Plus, he was smart and loved to read. They had a lot in common, and she was dreading the real test. She wanted so badly for him to pass but…

No one ever had.

It was half an hour later, once their desserts had been delivered, that she finally worked up the nerve. "So I have a question."

"Ask me anything," he said with a grin. It was then that she noticed he wasn't quite meeting her eyes. His gaze was locked around her hairline.

Oh no…

"Why exactly did you ask me out? I mean, it wasn't just for my brain, right? There are a ton of other girls in the department."

He blushed and his eyes briefly landed on her chest before skirting away.

_Strike number two…_

"Well, uh, you're smart, obviously." He smiled a little, obviously uncomfortable. "Uh, and you're beautiful. Not that that's the main reason or anything, it's just a fact." He sighed. "Honestly? There are a lot of reasons, but I've always had a thing for girls that dress the way you do."

"What do you mean?"

He gestured at her body. "All the black. _Not_," he rushed on, "that I'd ever judge or call you goth or anything…"

Levy zoned out at that point, her hunger evaporating as he droned on and on.

_Strike three…_

It was always like that. Ever since she could remember, no one had ever seen her for what she really was. No one in her family had ever known what happened. For as long as she'd been alive, no one could ever agree on what she looked like. Her parents had noticed early on and could never explain it.

They called it a curse, but had no idea where it could have come from.

As she'd gotten older, she'd figured out that not only did people not see what she really looked like, they saw what they considered to be beautiful.

So she'd found ways to test people. Like drawing.

"_You wanna what?"_

"_Draw each other. Come on, it'll be fun!"_

_He looked doubtful. "You're just trying to get a free portrait."_

"_Nuh uh! I'll be working for my picture since I'm drawing one, too."_

"_Alright, fine."_

_Levy laughed as she looked at her picture. "What is that?!"_

"_It's one of your loose hairs. Why are you laughing?"_

_So I don't cry instead. "Well thanks for drawing my flyaways."_

"_What? I think they're cute!"_

Or asking them outright.

"_What do I look like?"_

_He raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"_

"_Humor me for a second," she said. "What do I look like?"_

"_Uh, okay. Well, you have black hair and green eyes- hey wait! Where are you going?!"_

Or asking them what they liked about her. People always mentioned something physical- they couldn't seem to help themselves.

And Levy moved on, like she always did.

The day after the goth incident, Levy called in sick. Normally she could just brush off the incidents, but that one had hurt. She'd been convinced that she'd chosen a good one that time. But she'd been wrong, so she'd stayed home for a day to wallow before pulling herself back together.

It was why she'd missed the new guy.

The day she came back, she saw him from afar, but didn't get the chance to talk to him. From what she could tell, he worked somewhere in the other end of the school, possibly in the shop class?

Lunch had been rough, since she'd had to avoid her former date in the breakroom. She'd let him down as easy as she could, but he'd still been confused since they'd had such a great time. To avoid the conversation, she'd gone out into the agriculture's gardens to eat.

Half way through, she'd seen the new guy doing the same, up in one of the trees. He was covered in piercings and wore all black. She gave him a cursory look, long enough to deduce that he didn't have sawdust on him, before she returned to her food and her book. Whatever he did, it wasn't teaching the shop class. Under normal circumstances, she'd want to collect more information, but she just wasn't interested in it that day.

Or the following, it seemed. After she'd grabbed her lunch, she found herself heading for the garden once more. She sat in the same place and didn't say a word when she noticed the man in the tree again. Levy saw him watching as she sat down and also didn't say anything.

This continued for a couple weeks. Levy worked through her annoyance quickly, but they'd already settled into a routine and she didn't want to ruin that.

A couple months later, he caught her eye when she arrived and nodded at her. She was surprised by the action, but she smiled at him in response.

And that became their friendship.

Levy took a break from dating after the researcher. In fact, she took a break from everyone, except Lucy. The blonde had left the country with her father to help with his work, but they messaged back and forth once or twice a week. Outside of those few emails, Levy spent most of her time researching for her class.

It was nearly six months after that first lunch that they finally spoke.

By then, Levy had figured out who he was. His name was Gajeel, and he taught the welding class, with an occasionally metalworking class on the weekends. He was quiet and mostly stuck to himself. From the little she heard, outside of his classes, he rarely acknowledged anyone.

As Levy sat down that, she didn't look his way, didn't smile when he nodded at her. Instead, she pulled out her book and ate quietly. She'd considered eating in her class, but she spent enough time there, and in the faculty room, people would try to talk to her, so she ate in her usual spot.

She'd had a particularly rough night, and was still working through it. A couple of men had hit on her when she'd gone out for food. Even after they'd left, she'd had to listen to them when they'd returned to their booth- _right next to hers._ It was like they hadn't even tried to be quiet as they continued to talk about her with their crude language- comments about the shape of her body, the size of her-

Levy refused to allow the tears to fall when she realized she'd been staring at the same place in her book for a long time.

It didn't matter that they had been rude. It didn't matter that they were pigs- they weren't the first to hit on her for that reason. It didn't even matter that they had been so persistent.

Well, she amended, it did, but that wasn't what bothered her so much.

She was _tired_ of men not seeing her. She was _tired_ of people treating her the way they did because they thought she was beautiful instead of for her brain. She was _tired_ of talking to people and having them not meet her eyes.

She was _tired_ of this stupid curse ruining her life.

"Hey, Shrimp."

Levy didn't respond right away since she didn't realize the voice was talking to her. It wasn't until there was a dull thud behind her that she realized someone was trying to get her attention.

She turned around as Gajeel sat down heavily beside her.

It took her a moment to gather herself so she could speak. "Hi."

Finally, he lifted his eyes her way and she was surprised to see his eyes are a bright red color. She'd never seen eyes like his before.

"Shrimp." His voice was deep, deeper than she expected, and soothing in a way she'd never known a voice could be.

"So…" Levy was annoyed to find that she didn't know what to say. She, master of many languages, could not find the words she wanted to say.

"Not that I care," he said, "but you look like hell."

"Thanks for noticing," she said drily.

"Like I said, it's not that I care, but you didn't say hi today. Kinda rude don't you think?"

Levy clenched her jaw. "You didn't say hi."

"Not in so many words, but whatever." He leaned back and folded his hands behind his head. "So? What's with the face?"

"It's none of your business," Levy said. "And if you don't mind, I was looking forward to a quiet lunch." She lifted her book, pointedly not looking his way as she tried to get back into her book.

Much to her annoyance, the man at her side began to hum. It wasn't a tune recognized, and the longer he did it, the more annoyed she became. "Do you mind?" she asked.

"Hm?"

She glared at him over her book. "I'm trying to read and you're annoying me."

"Is that so." It wasn't a question.

"Yes, now if you don't mind, I'd like-"

"You know it's not me that's the problem here."

"Excuse me?"

He looked her way with a smirk. "Gihi. Don't even try to scare me with that face, Shrimp, it won't work."

Levy frowned. "I'm not-"

"I know you can read through my humming. You've done it plenty of times before. Hell, I've seen you so deep in your books, you've ignored students who stopped to speak to you. I was starting to think you were just as rude as I am, until I realized you were just that caught up in your reading."

Levy was surprised by that. "I really ignored students?"

"Gihi." He chuckled a little. "Only a couple times. Hell, I'm surprised you've never been late leaving, considering how focused you get."

Levy wasn't sure what to say, so she didn't say anything for a while.

The silence was comfortable, and she wondered why he was bothering to talk to her, after what she'd heard. Perhaps he really was interested.

"I just had a bad night," she said, and then didn't fight as the words came on their own. "I had to deal with some morons last night that were more interested in my hips and 'pullable blonde hair'," she said, making air quotes.

"So you decided to dye it?"

Ignoring that comment, she leaned forward a little. "I just get tired of men only looking at me and not seeing anything past the surface."

"Sounds like you're not looking at the right guys."

"Where I'm looking isn't the problem," she said.

He shrugged and then got quiet again.

When lunch was nearly over, she collected her things and stood, surprised when Gajeel stood to leave as well. "Well, uh, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

He grunted in response and she turned to walk away. She was surprised by the conversation, but realized that she felt better because of it.

She was halfway to the building before he called out to her again. "Hey Shrimp!"

Levy paused and turned back. "My name is Levy."

He scoffed and she realized she could see a pink tinge to his cheeks. "I just wanted you to know the blue suits you better."

"Blue?"

"Your hair." His voice grew a little more gruff and he turned to leave. "It looks better blue. Especially with the orange dress."

Levy was speechless as she watched him walk away and enter his own building. When the bell finally rang, it surprised her so much, she nearly dropped her books.

Despite being late returning to her classroom, she felt lighter than she ever had.

No one had ever noticed her orange dresses before.

And they'd definitely never seen her blue hair.

When she entered her classroom, she put her books away and grabbed her lesson plan, noticing the strange looks. She realized she probably looked like a lunatic with how wide she was smiling, but she didn't care.

For the first time, _ever_, someone had actually seen her.


	6. Dead

**So this one is based on an original story I'm writing, the beginning of which is on this site, under All Magic Has Secrets. It's set in a D&D style world; Lucy is a sneaky mage and Natsu is a fighter. They're on a team with Levy and Gajeel and work for a treasure hunting company. Lucy's magic comes from a very powerful magical being (like warlocks in D&D) who she only refers to as He/Him and absolutely hates. I wrote this as though they were my main protag and her teammate, so there's a lot of other stuff that helps set the scene, but with that bit it should make sense.**

**Also Gimeral is basically my version of ASL.**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy watched as Jackal bounced off a tree, his head making a satisfying crack against the bark. As she moved from behind Natsu to stand next to him, she finally realized Natsu hadn't blocked the blow with his sword. Jackal's sword stuck out of Natsu's chest right next to his heart. Without a sound, he sank to his knees and then onto his side.

"Oh no." She got down on her knees and tried to stop the bleeding. "Natsu? Natsu, can you hear me?" She couldn't hear him breathing through his helmet, so she slowly pulled it off. Blood oozed out of the corner of his mouth and his skin was too pale. She screamed over her shoulder, "Levy!"

Natsu's ragged breath made her turn back. His eyes were open and he was looking at her, trying to speak. "Don't talk, just focus on breathing, okay? Levy will be right here. You're going to be alright." She shouted again for their friend over her shoulder.

Slowly, Natsu took Lucy's hand and squeezed. When she turned back, he raised his other hand to sign in Gimeral. _I'm sorry, Lucy._

"You saved me, you have nothing to apologize for. Please just hold on." She could see blood oozing through some of the openings in his armor.

_I do. I lied to you._

"What? What do you mean you lied?"

_I have not… been honest… with you._ His signing was getting slower, his hands not forming the words as well anymore.

"Please Natsu," she begged. She felt her eyes beginning to water. "Please, you're going to be okay. You can tell me after we take care of you." Her efforts to stop the bleeding were not helping, so she quickly stood and looked around. She couldn't see either of their friends coming yet. "Levy! Gajeel!" She felt Natsu touching her foot. She hunched down again. "They're coming," she lied. "You're going to be fine." Hurriedly, she went through the pack on her back. As she expected, there were no healing implements. Since she was always in the shadows, she was rarely ever hurt and didn't need them.

Again, he grabbed her hand, his breathing barely a whisper. She met his eyes again and saw he was crying. He raised his hand slightly. In slow, careful movements, he signed again. When he finished, his hand fell back down and his breathing stopped, his final breath leaving him in a crackle. When she looked at his eyes, they were closed, tears still leaking out. A fury built in her, making her want blood. Looking up, she spotted Jackal still unconscious at the base of the tree she'd flung him into. She could feel her entire body heating up from her anger. She wanted to kill him, to torture him slowly, to pay him back for what he'd done to Natsu.

As she started to stand, ready to rip Jackal to pieces, Natsu's hand in hers stopped her. She looked for a long time at Natsu's face, memorizing it, allowing herself to feel all of the emotions inside her. Then she slowly pulled the sword from his body and sat him up. She wrapped her arms around Natsu, and reached out to Him.

Using her power, she reached out to His home. She pushed her power farther than she'd ever tried to push it before. She used all the anger, all the fury, all the emotion she could muster and reached as hard as she could. It took a lot of effort, but this time when she arrived, she arrived physically, inside of his home, with Natsu in her arms.

As she stared down at her friend, she felt the air stir in front of her, felt the heat coming off Him. "How did you get your body here?" He asked. "Why did you bring someone? What is going on?"

She squeezed her eyes shut, tears falling onto Natsu's body. "Help him," she whispered.

He leaned down and surprised her by carefully taking her hand. "He is gone, Lucy."

"No." She pulled her hand away and carefully fixed Natsu's hair, moving it out of his face. "He isn't. You can fix it."

"I'm sorry, I can't."

"Yes, you can."

"No," he said, taking her hand once more. "I can't. He's gone."

"I will do anything you ask me to do." Her voice cracked, but she soldiered on. "I will be at your beck and call for the rest of my life. I will never fight you about anything- I won't question you about anything you tell me to do." She pulled her hand from His and hugged Natsu's body to herself. "You have to fix him. For me. _Please_."

She heard Him sigh. "Lucy, I can't bring him back."

"Why?!" She threw her head back and yelled at Him. "To get revenge? To pay me back for not helping you out more? For not being more accommodating?"

"No, it's because I can't."

"You just don't want to."

"Lucy." He put his hand on her back. "I am unable to help him."

"I don't believe you," she said, shrugging Him off.

"It doesn't make it less true. The last time I used my power, I gave it away."

She looked at Him, incredulous. "Why would you do that? That doesn't sound like you at all."

"I did it so that I could be freed."

Slowly, the realization dawned on her as she locked eyes with Him. He looked at her with a combination of sadness and regret. "But…" Lucy trailed off, unable to put her realization into words.

"I gave you the last of my magic, Lucy. I wish that I could, but I cannot help him."

Her eyes widened. "Does that mean that I-"

"No." He cut her off. "You do not know how to manipulate the magic correctly and cannot learn since you are not a demon. I'm sorry Lucy," He repeated.

"He is gone."

* * *

That night, Lucy laid in her room, alone, staring at the ceiling. When she had returned to the forest with Natsu, Gajeel and Levy had been tying up Jackal. They'd loaded him up, along with Natsu's body, and come back to the guild. She'd left them to take care of Jackal and had taken Natsu with her to take care of his body. After one of the healers had agreed to preserve him for her for a while, she'd stopped by the hall for a large tankard of ale and gone to her room.

She replayed the events of the day in her head over and over again, trying to figure out where she'd gone wrong, what she could have changed. Natsu's death was her fault and she had to try and fix it. The tankard she had gotten had been emptied, filled, emptied and filled again.

The numbing effect of the ale was a welcome distraction. As she watched the ceiling dance, she once again replayed the fight in her head.

Getting split up from the others. Natsu calling for her as she went from tree to tree, trying to outrun Jackal. The swing coming at her and suddenly being blocked by her friend. His tears as he'd signed to her one last time.

_I have loved you since I met you._


	7. No, These Aren't Romance Candles

**So I did a thing, and it was going to be short, but it ended up being rather long… but it was fun to write. This is loosely based on an experience of mine from college and it gets a bit intense towards the end. PG-13 for sure, maybe boarding M. Also, I didn't edit, so I hope it's still okay.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy readjusted her shirt before knocking on the door in front of her. She pulled her ponytail over her shoulder just as the door was pulled open to reveal Natsu. "Hey! Glad you could make it!"

"Why do you sound so surprised?" she asked as she entered and then put her bag on his couch. "You knew I… was…" She looked around them as he closed the door and went into the kitchen. "What's going on?"

Natsu turned away as his cheeks began to heat up. "The power went out in the building. Landlord said someone was comin' in the morning to fix it, so for now this is all I've got."

Lucy completely missed his blush as she looked around at all the candles he'd set up. There were a few in jars, a few skinny ones that looked like they'd been set in hot wax to stay upright (possibly directly on a few surfaces, if she wasn't mistaken,) and about a million tealights scattered around the room. "Don't you think you went a little overboard?"

"Well, we're gonna be reading and I didn't want us to hafta strain our eyes. Here," he said as he pushed a cold can into her hand. "As you requested." Lucy looked down to find her favorite soda in her hand, her one stipulation for helping him.

They'd been in the same English class all semester and had been hanging out off and on outside of class and done a few projects together. Lucy loved her English class and had offered him help if he ever needed it, but he'd insisted that the class was a piece of cake and he didn't need it. Their most recent paper, though, had Natsu terrified he wasn't going to pass the class, since it would count toward 35% of their grade. In an effort to avoid failing, he'd begged Lucy to help him, and she'd been nice enough to agree with only a slightly mocking smile.

"Sorry it's kinda small, but it's the only thing Gray and I could afford." The living room was the largest room from what she could see, but even then, Lucy thought it might be about the size of her bedroom back home. It was connected to the kitchen with three doors leading to the bathroom and she guessed the two bedrooms, although one door was closed at the moment. The other one looked like a tornado had hit- definitely Natsu's bedroom.

"Uh, where do you wanna do this?" Lucy tried not to think about how they were in the most romantic setting she'd ever been in in her life as she noticed the pile of books on the living room table. Taking that as an invitation, she moved to sit on the couch and began to pull out a few books and packets of paper. "So what parts of the assignment were you hoping to get help on?"

Natsu loitered as long as he could in the kitchen, not at all sure why he was so nervous about sitting next to Lucy on their little couch. He sat there with Gray all the time without a problem, so why did he want to avoid it with her? He grabbed his own drink and moved back into the living room and before he could think too hard about it, he went to turn on Gray's stereo. "You mind some music?"

"Oh please," she said with a smile. "It's easier for me to work on things with background noise."

He turned on the stereo first, but he couldn't seem to pick up anything but static. With a frown, he pulled the device away from the wall and found that the antennae had been broken off. _That's odd_… They had just been listening to it the night before. With a sigh, he put it back and turned it to the CD function. His cord for his phone had disappeared that morning, so not only was he unable to use his dead phone, he couldn't plug it into the stereo to listen to anything on it.

When music began to play, Natsu felt his entire body heat up and he quickly turned it down. It was a random CD he'd picked up that only had piano pieces, but most of them were… well… rather romantic sounding, he thought.

He tried to remove the CD but the damn thing wouldn't come out, no matter what he did. "Damn it…"

"What's the matter?" Lucy asked.

"Something happened to the stereo. The antennae is missing and the CD is stuck."

"Oh, so no music?"

"Well…" His face heated up even more, but he turned up the volume so she could hear the CD that was already playing. "It'll play the one in it already."

When he met her gaze, he couldn't help but think she looked a little embarrassed herself. "I don't mind the piano. You can leave it on if you want."

He wasn't so sure it was a good idea, but Natsu nodded and then adjusted the volume before standing and moving to join her. He glanced at the couch, but instead moved to sit on the floor instead.

Lucy blinked at him before looking beside her. "There's enough room here if you want."

"That's okay," he said, "I prefer the floor when I'm doing homework."

"Okay." She finished pulling out her papers and then fished through them until she found the assignment requirements. "So I think we should talk about what you're going to be writing about first and then we can break up the assignment from there."

She was quiet as he looked through his own books and paper to find the same sheet. When he finally did, he looked up to find her squinting around the room at the candles. "What?"

"I was just wondering where you got them all from," she mused.

"Got what from?"

"The candles."

"Uh, the closet? Is that a trick question?"

She finally looked his way with a small smile. "You two college guys just happen to have a whole shit of candles lying around?"

No way was he admitting they were his. "Gray stocks up. He likes to do all that romantic shit for Juvia."

Her eyes instantly softened. "Really? That's really sweet."

Perhaps he should have admitted they were his… "Yeah, well, a few of them are mine, but I just like them because I like fire."

"I've noticed," she said with a laugh.

Of course. She must remember what happened the first day of classes.

Not even half an hour into the first class, the entire school had evacuated from a fire alarm going off because he'd managed to start a fire in Chem. He rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled. "Yeah, well, the professor didn't bother telling us how to turn the burners off once they were on and I didn't see the flames getting close to my paper because I was trying to turn the damn thing off."

Lucy laughed some more, causing Natsu's stomach to flip. She had an adorable laugh. "Yeah, well, our teacher thought it was just a drill, so he kept us inside, until the principal came and had to shoo us out. He wasn't happy about having his class interrupted for something so trivial he said."

"Who was that?"

"Gildarts."

Natsu snorted. "He _would _think a fire was trivial. The building could be coming down around him and I don't think he'd bat an eye, just assign extra homework to anyone trying to leave the class."

The pair laughed together and soon found a rhythm. They would talk about their homework for a bit and then get sidetracked for a while talking about school before falling into a comfortable silence as they each worked on their own papers.

Lucy found that she rather liked spending time with him. He was a bit reckless and got more excited about things than she thought he should, especially when it came to his roommate and their many fights, but he was more than she was expecting, even after having hung out before. He was engaging, and funny, and even if he didn't seem to care much about paying attention in class, he cared about his grades and wanted to learn.

She was a little ashamed it had taken her so long to try and really get to know him.

"So what are you majoring in?" she asked.

"Not sure yet," he answered.

She froze with her drink halfway to her mouth. "What do you mean you don't know?"

He shrugged his shoulders, but she could see his cheeks darkening as he avoided her gaze. "I just don't know yet."

"How… how could you not know?"

"We're not that old," he said. "I haven't had enough time to figure out what I like or what I'd like to do the rest of my life. I've been taking a bunch of different classes trying to figure out what I wanna do."

Confused, she looked around her again. How was he affording to pay for college when he lived like he did? It surprised her that he was so nonchalant about his class choices. Her family was very well off, and she wouldn't even _consider _taking a class she didn't need.

"My, uh…" He cleared his throat and looked embarrassed. She realized he must have read her thoughts on his face. "My dad was in the military. He died and had something in the works that helps me pay for college. Not indefinitely, of course, and I have to keep my grades up, but he was a big believer in doing what you enjoyed doing, so it's because of him that I'm trying to find my passion."

She gave him a soft smile before taking a drink. She couldn't quite understand, since she'd wanted to be a writer for almost as long as she could remember. "It's nice that you're able to try out a few things."

"I'd rather still have my father," he murmured, and then suddenly shook his head and leaned towards the table to continue working on his paper.

Lucy licked her lip, not sure at first she wanted to say anything, but the look in his eyes helped her make her decision.

"So about the body portion-"

"I know how you feel," she said suddenly.

He looked up at her with a frown. "What do you mean?"

"My mother passed when I was still young." How funny that they had so much in common. "I know what you mean, about wishing your father was still around." She looked away. "I still have my father, but things between us have been… strained since my mother passed. Probably because I look so much like her."

"I'm sorry," he said. She gave him a smile and then returned to their work.

It was a while later that Natsu laid back on the floor and stretched out. "Ugh… why does writing take so long?"

Lucy laughed. "You're barely two pages in."

"And it's taking _forever_…"

Lucy continued to chuckle until she glanced his way and noticed the small stretch of stomach exposed by his shirt riding up. She was surprised to see the thin trail of hair that ran between his shirt and the top of his jeans. She'd thought he dyed his hair, not that the color was natural. As he groaned and sat up again, she looked away, blushing that she'd nearly been caught staring.

"What the- how?!"

"What?"

He leaned forward and rifled through the stack in front of her. "How have you written nearly _ten pages_ already?!"

She shrugged. "I like writing." Lucy failed to mention she'd already had four of them done before coming over.

"Uuuuggghhh," he groaned. "I'm never going to finish."

"That's not true," she said. "You just have to make the time to do the writing, and write about something that you care about. It makes a world of difference if you like the subject matter you're writing about."

"I suppose, but still…" He glanced at the clock, surprised to see how late it was. He wondered if Lucy noticed and hoped she didn't.

He liked having her there, a lot. Even if it had been Gray's idea to invite her, he was glad he'd done it. Lucy was even more amazing once he started getting to know her. Those few times outside of class hadn't revealed to him just how amazing she actually was.

"Alright, break time," he said getting to his feet.

She blinked up at him and then chuckled. "You just took a break a little bit ago."

"Need another one," he said and then moved to sit at her side with a grin.

Lucy found that she liked sitting next to him, but she was also very aware of just how handsome he was when he was so close. The heat in her belly seemed to increase every time she met his gaze, and at that moment, when he was a mere couple feet away, she saw that his eyes seemed to simmer as well.

They were both silent for a little while, the silence thickening between them as they watched the other… and wondered.

She said something then, although she wasn't sure what it was. Natsu responded, but his words didn't register as all her attention had focused on how his mouth moved to make the words rather than on the words themselves. They continued back and forth a few times before Lucy realized he had moved closer. Or had she?

Natsu wasn't sure who was leaning towards who, but he suddenly really, _really_ hoped it was mutual, because there was nothing he wanted more in that moment than to know just how soft her lips were.

Lucy watched as his eyes heated and stared at her lips. He seemed to stall, his gaze burning into her, and she realized he wanted her to close the distance.

It wasn't her first time kissing someone, but she couldn't remember being so nervous before, even with her first one. Loke had been charming and sweet, and even though it had been nice, she hadn't been nervous with him, since they'd known eachother so long. A part of her had hoped that he'd be the one for her, because even though he was a lady's man, he was devoted to her. She would have enjoyed having his undivided attention, but they'd known as soon as their lips parted that it wasn't the path for them.

He was still one of her best friends, but she'd never thought twice about trying again.

Now, though, she was nervous. She didn't even know Natsu all that well just yet, but she was learning, and she'd like to keep learning. With that thought, she leaned the last couple inches and pressed her lips against his. The kiss was soft, tentative, and she wasn't sure at first that he was kissing her back.

A quiet groan in the back of his throat was her only warning before he was cupping the back of her head and kissing her fiercely. Lucy gasped, but the sound was swallowed by his mouth on hers. Even though she had started the kiss, he had quickly taken the lead, and she couldn't find it in herself to be at all upset about it.

Natsu felt his control splitter when Lucy's lips landed on his, and then shatter when he felt her hesitate. Before she could pull away, his arms were around her, one on her waist, one up her back and neck. She tasted like her soda, and the vanilla chapstick he'd seen her put on, and her lips were softer than he could have ever imagined. He tried to hold himself back, but the more he tasted, the more he wanted. When he gently tugged on her bottom lip, making her gasp, he felt like he had just entered heaven.

Lucy didn't try to fight Natsu as he continued to overwhelm her. His kisses were hungry, and the longer he kissed her, the hotter she felt. She met him, kiss for kiss, and when he still didn't initiate anything deeper, she carefully, ever so slightly, slipped her tongue out enough to run along his lower lip.

The groan that spread through Natsu vibrated along every part of them that touched. Feeling bold, Lucy threw a leg over his lap and kissed him with renewed vigor while his hands dug into her hips and travelled back onto her butt to pull her closer. With her in his lap, he pulled her even closer and then delved past her teeth to meet her tongue with his. He groaned and barely remembered to breathe through his nose as he kissed her; her smell and touch were so intoxicating, he found he didn't mind the loss of air.

Lucy, it seemed, did though, and after a few minutes, she had to pull away to try and catch her breath. Her efforts nearly proved futile as Natsu took the opportunity to trail kisses and hot breath over her neck, causing her to gasp and moan as she slowly rocked her hips against him. When she felt his canines, those strange, too sharp canines, slide along her neck, she hissed out a breath, certain she would go insane if they did not continue.

When Lucy suddenly grabbed the bottom of her shirt and tugged it over her head, a part of Natsu cooled, and wondered just what was happening. The sight of her beautiful breasts exposed to his gaze in her lacy -_why did it have to be red?!-_ bra distracted him, though. He ran his hands up and down her sides and he leaned forward and kissed and nibbled on the exposed skin of her breasts.

Lucy's head fell back and she sank her hands into his surprisingly soft hair as Natsu lavished her breasts with attention. Honestly, she hadn't planned on taking off her shirt. Her hands had run away from her and before she'd known it, the garment had been on the floor. Natsu had frozen for a moment, his expression shifting ever so slightly, before the heat returned and he focused his attention on her breasts.

Not for the first time, she wondered what she was doing. This wasn't like her, and Natsu had never struck her as a 'bang the first time we're alone' kind of guy. Although, to be fair, she'd never been alone with someone who she felt so much chemistry with. When Lucy suddenly felt fingers tugging on one of her nipples, she decided she needed to be an adult and talk about what they were doing.

"Natsu?"

"Mmm?" He slowly slid those sinfully sharp teeth across one breast, making her quietly moan once more, before he looked up at her with dark, dark eyes.

"What are we doing?" she asked.

"Uh…" His expression instantly changed, suddenly becoming shy. "I, uh, I don't know, honestly. Do you wanna stop? We can. I don't wanna-"

"I don't want to," she said, surprised by her own words. No, this wasn't like her, but she wanted this, badly. And after, she was pretty sure she would want more. And more after that.

Perhaps he felt the same?

"I like you," she blurted out. "A lot. I… I know we don't know each other super well, but I'd like to. Get to know you that is. If you want."

As her cheeks turned the most adorable shade of red he'd ever seen, Natsu felt himself nearly burst with happiness.

Lucy-Freaking-Heartfilia, the most gorgeous woman he'd ever seen -with a personality to match- had just said she liked him. It didn't matter that they'd been making out on his shitty couch, or that she'd started undressing in front of him, it was her words that made him the most happy in that moment.

"I like you, too," he said rather lamely, but the smile she gave him lit up her face in a way that he hoped he could replicate time and time again. "Honestly, I've liked you for a while, and when you actually agreed to help me with my paper, I about had an aneurysm."

She laughed, a delightful, genuine laugh, and he couldn't help but smile. She looked a little flustered when she met his eye again. "So, uh, do you… wanna keep going?"

She gasped when his fingers dug into her hips and he suddenly stood up. Lucy flung her arms around his neck as he wrapped her legs around his waist. "Absolute, but not on this couch. Gray has had Juvia over here, and I can't guarantee he hasn't done things on it. Plus, it's ancient and disgusting."

Lucy gasped. "Natsu! Why did you let me sit on it?!" He laughed when she swatted at him, but then his mouth was on hers again, and he had her pinned against the wall, and he was telling her the floor was still clean, and they were suddenly throwing clothes everywhere…

Gray cursed and moved as far from the door as he could get in his small room. This had not gone according to plan.

Suddenly, he wondered if Natsu had any sort of protection and wondered if the pink haired idiot would try to get in his room to take any of his stash. As carefully and quietly as he could, he went to the door, turned the lock and then moved back to the opposite corner. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and desperately tried to find help.

Gray: Hey I need your help pronto

Gajeel: What is it?

Gray: I need you to come to my apartment and ask to borrow something

Gajeel: Eh? Why?

Gray: I got Natsu some alone time with that blonde girl in his english class and now i'm stuck in my room. This is going farther than I thought it would.

Gajeel: Gihi, sucks to suck

Gray: I'm not kidding I need help

Gajeel: Levy says I'm not supposed to interfere in Bunny Girl getting her rocks off, and she's offering a lot more to keep him here than you can to get me over there.

Gajeel: Sorry

Gray groaned quietly and then shot a text to his girlfriend.

Gray: Hey, you know the thing you suggested yesterday about Natsu's study date? I did it and now I need help getting out.

His phone began to buzz in his hand and when it began to ring, he just about jumped off his bed as he quickly answered it. Before he spoke, he listened hard but didn't hear any disturbance in their activities outside of his room. "Hello?" he whispered.

"Gray, what on earth did you do!" Cana's voice came through loud and clear and Gray rushed to turn down the volume on his phone.

"Cana, stop yelling. Why do you have Juvia's phone?"

"I'm sorry, my love!" Juvia's voice came through from the background as Cana spoke again. "What exactly did you do, Gray? And be careful how you answer. Lucy has become a really good friend recently and I'd hate to have to hurt you."

Gray looked at the blackened butter knife on his bedside table. Feeling guilty, he grabbed it and the rubber gloves and shoved them into the drawer. "Nothing terrible."

"Lucy texted me a while ago telling me that her study date with Natsu included an apartment full of candles and some pretty romantic music. Did you have something to do with that?"

Gray thought about his poor, recently-broken stereo and decided that Natsu was going to owe him. As a rather breathy moan made its way through his door, he decided his friend owed him _a lot_.

He pulled his comforter over his head and sighed as he sat down on the floor. "Alright, so you know how he's had a crush on her for, like, ever? I suggested that he invite her over to help him with the paper he was working on, which he did, but when I told him to just ask her out, he got all fidgety so… I may have taken some action to help him…"

* * *

Later, when Natsu found out what Gray had done, he thanked his friend profusely.

And then socked him and warned him that he'd beat him bloody if he ever told Lucy.


	8. High Stakes

**Reading a vampire story and I wanted to write up a little thing.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Natsu… Natsu, please…"

Natsu shook his head violently. "No. No Luce, I won't do that to you."

"Natsu…" Lucy coughed, blood splattering Natsu's face and shirt. "I- I can't…"

He leaned harder against her chest, trying to stem the blood flow. "You _will_ be okay, Lucy. I promise."

Lucy fought for breath. Her chest was on fire while the rest of her was strangely numb. She hadn't even realized the man had a weapon; she'd just wanted to protect Natsu. Vampire hunters rarely spent time in the cities anymore, so how was she supposed to know he had a stake? Since they'd started mostly coexisting together ten years ago, vampires had sought sanctuary in the cities. With the new laws, it was the safest place for them to be, and also the only place where resources were available at night.

"Natsu…" Suddenly, she felt her hand begin to heat up and realized he was holding onto it. "Please, Natsu. _Please_."

"No!" Natsu's shout made Lucy wince and she couldn't hold back the tears that began to fall from her eyes.

"You're too… stubborn…"

When Lucy had figured out that Natsu had become a vampire nearly five years ago, she'd immediately gotten them an apartment and jobs in the city. They'd left four days after he turned, and he'd nearly been killed six times before they got out. Since then, Lucy hadn't let him out of her sight as much as possible.

He was all she had left. She wasn't going to let some nutjobs with wooden stakes take him away from her.

"Lucy, you know how much I hate this." Natsu clenched his jaw, cursing when his canines broke through his skin. He quickly wiped the blood away and licked his lip to try and heal it.

Lucy's arm wobbled into the air, trying to reach his face. "Please Natsu-"

"_No!_" Natsu choked on a sob as he continued to press onto her torso. "I won't do that to you!"

"I don't wanna die yet, Natsu. Plea…se..."

Natsu glared at the body across the alley, annoyed when he saw the man's chest rising. He should have thrown him harder. If Lucy died, he would make sure the man never saw morning. His tears continued to gather and flow down his face, mixing with Lucy's blood. "Luce… please don't ask me- I don't want this for you."

"I just…" She let out a long shaky breath. "I don't.. wanna lose... you. Please." She smiled softly as her hand fell to the ground at his side. "I love… you…"

"Lucy?" Natsu leaned forward, worry coursing through him as he watched her chest barely moving with his breaths. "Luce, can you hear me? Lucy!"

Her chest slowed down even more as he tried to stop the bleeding. Why wouldn't the bleeding stop?!

She was going to die.

His Lucy was going to die.

What was he supposed to do? He couldn't turn her- she had no idea how horrible being a vampire was! How long did they have? How long could she hold on?

"Lucy!" Natsu knew he was gripping her too tightly, but she didn't react. Even though his entire hand covered the wound, the blood continued to flow. Why had she blocked the attack?! He'd been the target, why was she always so committed to protecting him?!

She groaned quietly, causing more blood to dribble down her lip and chin. "Come on, Luce, you can do this. You gotta live."

Natsu growled. He could hear the sirens, but he'd been able to hear them since they started. Curse his sensitive hearing; they were still too far away!

"Luce, I don't want to condemn you like this. I need you, do you hear me?!" He was shouting, but he didn't care. There was no one around anyway. Which was why they'd been there, trying to avoid other people.

The same reason the hunter had been there.

"Please, Luce," he whispered brokenly. "_Please_. I can't be strong without you. I need you with me…"

Natsu's eye snapped open when Lucy's hand sloppily found his cheek. "Gla...d." Her breathing was wispy, barely making her chest move. "You… 'kay…"

"Lucy, you shouldn't have done that."

"Pro… tect," she whispered. "Can't… lose…" Her hand slid limpy from his cheek and landed on his chest.

"Luce? Luce!" Natsu shook her slightly and her head flopped to the side.

"LUCY!"

In the distance, the sirens continued to get closer.

* * *

**Did he? Didn't he? Maybe we'll find out next time!**


	9. Body Snatchers! (But only kind of)

**Note: This is ****unedited.**

* * *

_Shit shit shit._ Lungs heaving for air, Lucy did her best to stay upright as she ran down the cliff that had suddenly appeared. She should have known stopping for the night was a bad idea. She'd been told when her father sent her on this blasted trip that the carriage would not stop for anything. He'd sent enough guards to rotate drivers specifically for that reason. She'd tried to argue when they'd stopped the previous evening, but they had ignored her because she was _female_ and _dumb_.

She should have known.

They'd disappeared at some point in the night, more than likely on purpose for the ones chasing her, and now she had no idea what to do. Because of where she was going, she had left her dagger and whip behind so she had no way to defend herself.

She suddenly tripped and slammed headfirst into a tree. She hissed as her forehead began to bleed, her vision cloudy as her head began to pound. She tried to get to her feet, but she was suddenly slammed back down as the men caught up to her. She heard laughter as rough hands began to feel up her body, one disappearing beneath her dress to run up her leg.

"Check her quickly. They said she usually carries a couple weapons."

Lucy desperately tried to push them away but failed to escape their grip. "She's clean," the one above her said as stood. Lucy wiped the blood from her eyes so she could properly see the three men in front of her. "But not for long."

"I got dibs," said the shortest one. His belly hung much lower the his shirt and jiggled as he laughed. "It's been too long."

"And how's it that you get dibs?" A tall, reedy man glared down at the one who had spoken. "I's say it should be me. I's the one that got us the job!"

"I caught her," the bearded man in the middle said, "so I get her first."

"Fine, but then I's gonna go next," the skinny one said.

"In yer dreams!"

"If you two are done." The bearded man leered down at her. "Nothing against you, lady, but we need the money. Don't worry, though, we won't kill you. You're no use to us dead."

Lucy was having trouble breathing as panic slowly set in. She couldn't let them touch her, she _couldn't_. If they did, she would never be able to find a respectable match. No one would want to marry her if she was spoiled by these heathens, and if that happened... she'd never be able to get out from under her father's thumb. She'd lived the rest of his life under his roof, doing as his said. A spinster, all alone until she eventually died on her own.

When the man grabbed her arm again, her body responded on its own. She twisted her arm and shoved her palm up, pushing his arm away. His wrist cracked due to the odd angle and he howled in pain. The fat one rushed forward, but Lucy threw out her foot as she braced her body with her hands. She kicked the man's knee, forcing it to bend the wrong way and sliding to the side just as he fell, yowling as he clutched his leg.

"What'd you do?" she whispered. She frantically looked at her hands, but they looked the same as ever. Still, her muscles weren't cooperating. She got to her feet, her breathing level once more, even as she continued to panic. "What did you do?!"

"Time to settle down little girl." The last one standing grabbed a rope from his hip and began to swing it at his side, ready to lasso her. "Fightin' won't make it any easier on ya."

She willed her muscles to move, but her body remained frozen as he stepped back. When he finally released the rope, Lucy's hand snatched it out of the air and pulled it taunt. A flame appeared around her hand and suddenly the entire rope was ablaze. Lucy screamed but couldn't do anything as it continued to burn around her, eventually covering her head to toe in bright, golden flames.

All three men shouted as they ran or hobbled away. Tears flowed down Lucy's eyes as her fear continued to multiply. The flames didn't hurt, but she had no idea where they'd come from or why she couldn't move. _What was happening to her?!_

"Hey pyro, you're scaring her," said a lazy voice.

The voi barely penetrated her consciousness as the flame disappeared and her body went limp. She was crying too hard to see, but a frantic voice next to her began to babbled as something helped guide her body to the forest's floor. "Shit shit shit, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to scare ya, I was just trying to help. Please stop crying!"

"Yeah, that's going to help. Tell her to stop crying. I tell you to stop being an idiot every day and it hasn't accomplished a damn thing yet."

"Shut it, ice dick!"

"Watch your language around the lady, you fire clown."

There was a growl at her side, but the fighting seemed to stop as the person next to her began to rub her back. It took some time for her to calm down, but eventually she was able to get herself back under control. Taking deep breaths, she worked on cleaning up her face before she looked up. Glancing around, she found that she was alone.

When had they left? Not that she could blame them. She'd been a mess. No proper lady should behave in such a manner. She sighed as she tested her arms and hands, making sure she had control of them again.

"Don't worry, I ain't in ya anymore." Lucy yelped and jerked to the side, but she still saw nothing by her. Something grabbed her hand, but there was nothing there. "You're okay, you can calm down now."

"You're still invisible, you idiot," came a dry reply.

"Oh shi- shoot, yeah. Hold on." A faint glow started at about her eye level and expanded into a small flame. As it burned, a form was revealed, made of soft yellow light. The flame was burning in the center of the... man's? chest. His arms, chest and head were humanoid, but from the waist down...

"You're a ghost."

"What? Hahaha, no I'm not. I'm a ghoulenish."

"I mean, we're related to ghosts, so you're not super wrong." Lucy turned to find another shape similar to the first, but this one was made of a pale blue light, with what looked like a shard of crystal in its chest.

"But ghosts can't do this!" The yellow disappeared and suddenly Lucy's arms were moving on their own again. They reached up and squeezed her cheeks before patting them lightly and then booping her nose. The light reappeared next to her and all Lucy could seem to do was stare.

"You freaked her out again, moron."

"I am not a moron," the first voice growled before turning her way again. "Please don't cry!"

"You should ask permission before taking over a body."

"Well _you_ should-"

"He really isn't going to hurt you," the blue voice said.

"Don't ignore me!"

"Neither am I." A blue hand grabbed hers gently and shook it. "My name's Gray. This idiot-"

"Hey!"

"Is Natsu."

Lucy struggled for a moment to find words. "So... what are you?" Mythical creatures were nothing new to her. Some of her best friends were stars, and she'd even befriend a fairy who was dating a drake (not that she'd met him yet, but some day she _would_). But she'd never met anything like these two.

"We're basically souls that died because of extreme exposure to an element. Natsu was burned as a witch and I drowned in a frozen lake."

Lucy frowned. "But witches aren't illegal."

"They used to be," Natsu said.

"Yeah, but that was over a hundred..." Lucy trailed off.

Natsu grinned. "Yep. I've been dead a long time. Twinkle di- uh, idiot over here has only been dead for a few years."

Gray slammed into Natsu's back, who flipped him over and punched him in the face. "Frozen ass clown!"

"Lava breath!"

"Frost queen!"

"Alright, can you guys just stop now?" The pair pulled roughly apart, leaving their backs towards each other as they mumbled under their breath. "If you don't mind, I need to get home."

"Oh we can help with that!" Natsu cried.

"Speak for yourself, I've got plans tonight."

"Dude." Natsu cocked an eyebrow. "You _so _don't have a chance with that mermaid."

"Are you kidding me? _She_ asked _me_ out!"

"I don't need both of you anyway!" At this point, Lucy wasn't sure she wanted _either _of them, but she needed to get home. "I don't want to interrupt your lives or anything, I just need to get home and was hoping for some help."

"Then you only need one of us," Gray said. "Only one can inhabit you at a time, and our magic isn't very strong as ghosts so at best I could only throw some hail at them."

"He's a punk anyway," Natsu said. "I'm way stronger than he is!"

Gray tensed and then muttered before disappearing. Lucy wasn't sure why, but she felt a little safer only having one of them around. Perhaps because then she wasn't at risk for being attacked by anything while they were fighting each other. "So... can we go?"

"Sure! Uh..." He flitted around her. "Do you want me to be inside you now or just if you need me?"

_Do you want me to be inside yo-_ "Just float!" Lucy blurted. Face hot, she got to her feet and almost immediately fell over.

Natsu caught her, his ghostly hands surprisingly warm. "You're awfully klutzy for a princess."

"I'm not a princess, I'm the daughter of a lord."

"Same difference to me," he said as he let go and began to lead her.

"There is a _huge_ difference!" Lucy argued.

"Meh."

"Listen here, ghost-"

"I told you, I am a _ghoulenish_."

"Same difference."

"No it's not!"

Lucy smirked as she began to walk. "I don't see it."

Natsu launched into a heated lecture about the difference between ghosts, ghouls, poltergeists, ghoulenee (the plural of ghoulenish) and skeletons. Although she didn't see how they were involved, she didn't care. Talking to Natsu kept her from thinking about what had happened and how dangerous her current situation was. So she continued to walk with him, bickering a little, but mostly asking questions as he walked her home.

If, perhaps, at the end of their trip, her new friend offered to help her out if she was ever kidnapped again, then that was just fine with her. It meant that she was that much safer from the dangers of the world.

And that much more cared for.

* * *

**I had an idea and I ran with it. It makes me want to work on a story idea I've been knocking around for a while (that isn't a fanfic, so it wouldn't end up here). I remembered that I wanted to write another part for the dragon one shot I made earlier, so that'll probably be my next mini project in the near future, so keep an eye out for that!**

**And as always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**


	10. Still Running

**Here it is, guys. A continuation of my first one shot- Save Me, Dragon. I'm not sure if I'll have more after this one. I have mixed feelings- this would be a good stopping point, but I could also make it a trilogy without overdoing it. We'll see in the future.**

**But for now, enjoy! **

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"We'll stop at least a mile out. I don't wanna risk him hearing us." Loke paused as they crossed a rough patch of roots. "They have strong noses, too, so we'll wanna try to be downwind. Once we can get close, we'll do what we can to figure out the lay of the land. We'll wanna figure out where the dragon is, and Lucy. Depending on where the dragon is, we might be able to sneak in and get Lucy before it-"

"For the last time, Loke, this isn't necessary," Gray groaned. "And you can't sneak up on a dragon, anyway, you know that."

"No, Gray, I don't know that." Loke jerked his horse to a stop and turned around. "Why are you taking this so lightly?! You've been beaten by that overgrown lizard multiple times now-"

"He has not _beat me_-"

"Then what do you call it?!" Loke kicked his horse forward once more, scaring it as he forced it to move. "You haven't rescued her yet, and I don't understand why you're not more upset about it."

"I told you it's not like that," Gray sighed as he followed. Perhaps Loke wasn't the best person to choose for this mission. He thought it would be a good idea since he was friends with Lucy. Being her personal guard, he'd been Gray's first choice when he'd been sent by Lucy's father to try and rescue her again.

Gray's body sagged. He was getting tired of this. This was his... what, seventh trip out here? Eighth? This was a waste of time.

"So if we're going to-"

A roar ripped across the sky, spooking the horses and making Loke jump. Gray didn't even flinch as he soothed his mount and continued. "I'll lead from here. He knows we're here."

"What?! Gray, are you nuts?! We can't just-"

"Trust me."

"No! You've been doing this long enough, maybe you should let me-"

"Just trust me already!" Gray found his usual path and followed it. "Just stay with me and you won't die."

"That's not very reassuring!"

Gray didn't respond, just ignored him out as he moved forward. Eventually he reached the low stone wall marking the edge of the property. He hopped off and led his mount to the shelter he'd fixed up on his last visit and quickly pulled off the saddle and bridle before brushing it down and giving it feed. He had another stall cleaned out by the time Loke finally joined him. "Just what are you doing?"

"You won't need your horse. Get down so we can get it put away. It's late and we won't be leaving until tomorrow." He quickly unbridled the horse while Loke gawked at him. "There's a pasture they can graze in tomorrow. For now, this building will suffice."

"Gray."

"No more, Loke," Gray begged. "Please. I'm tired. Just help me finish this so we can go sit down on something softer than a saddle."

Loke continued to grumble quietly but hopped down and helped him. A few minutes later, they left, Loke following in Gray's wake. They weaved their way through overgrown fields and gardens, around two dry fountains and through a rather dilapidated building surrounded by dense trees and foliage.

Once they were through, they found themselves in a much different scene. The grounds were well kept and there were a couple small beds of flowers that looked freshly weeded and planted. There was a small pond in the middle and at the far end of the space was a small house, two stories tall and made from brick. Gray groaned as another roar ripped through the air. "God, I hope he doesn't-"

Something large and heavy landed behind them. The ground shook and Loke was suddenly yanked to the ground just as something flew through the air right where he'd been standing. Gray sat up after it passed and yelled, "Can't you just say hello, you overgrown lizard?!"

"Where's the fun in that?!" A large red tail slammed into the ground to Loke's left, knocking both him and Gray over.

Loke rolled and pulled out his sword, but Gray grabbed his arm and lowered it as he shouted again. "For the last time, knock it off or I'll fight you for real and take you down!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAA!" Rumbling laughter shook the ground as Loke finally got a look at the dragon. It was enormous, covered in red scales that rivaled the sky behind it. It's eyes were mere slits of gold as he laughed, revealing sharp teeth and a large tongue. "You really think you could win?! I'd like to see you try!"

Gray's hand barely made it to his sword before a familiar voice rang out across the courtyard. "That is enough you two! Natsu, leave them both be this instant! Get over here!"

The dragon perked up and instantly obeyed, quickly arriving at the house, where he curled up, his nose settled right in front of the building. Lucy huffed as she finished descending the stairs and pet the dragon's nose. Smoke puffed out of the creature's nostrils as he began to purr, the sound sending vibrations across the ground.

In shock, Loke barely registered Gray helping him to his feet and pulled him along. Lucy was talking to the dragon as she pet his nose, not looking at all worried about him being near her. They stopped a few feet away and Gray moved to give Lucy a hug and then suddenly her arms were around him. Even then, it still took several moments for Loke to be able to focus on what anyone was saying.

"-said I needed help, and I was pretty sure Loke was the only one I could trust to bring out here so here he is." Gray grinned his way. "Told you it would be okay."

"I _really_ don't understand what's going on," Loke said.

"Well, it's kind of a long story," Lucy answered, "but the short version is I asked Natsu to kidnap me and I live here now!" Lucy gave him a big grin, followed shortly by the dragon smiling as well.

"Lucy, you can't just stay here," Loke argued. "Your father is expecting you to be returned home-"

"So that I can marry," Lucy finished for him. "I am aware. That is why I ran away. I am not going back, Loke. I refuse." She turned sideways, revealing a frowning profile. "I don't want to marry just to preserve the kingdom. To mix our bloodlines and create a stronger country and give birth to children who will also be forced to live their lives for the country."

"Lucy-"

"I'm pretty hungry," Gray cut in, "and we're pretty tired. How about we go inside for a snack and then go to bed? Loke and I can use the spare room on the first floor. After we rest tonight, we can revisit this conversation tomorrow, how does that sound?" He caught Lucy's eye as reached for Loke and gave her an apologetic smile.

Lucy nodded, but her body was stiff. Natsu glared at Loke, but made no move to stop him as he was dragged into the house by Gray. When the door finally closed behind the pair, Natsu moved. He wrapped an arm carefully around Lucy, surrounding her with his body. "Don't worry, Luce. I won't let him take you anywhere."

"I know," Lucy sighed. "I just... I don't want this. Knights and guards constantly being sent here to get me."

"On the bright side, Gray has never actually tried to take you."

"That's because he's always understood." Lucy lifted her face so she could meet Natsu's eye. "Same as you. You've always gone along with my plan, even though it's inconvenient for you."

"Are you kidding? This is awesome for me!" Natsu's chuckle washed her in hot breath. "I never had anyone to fight with until you showed up. Now there are people here all the time! I mean, they're all pretty weak, so it's not a challenge, but it's better than nothing."

"Still, it can't continue forever." Lucy looked around at her darkening surroundings. "I think we're going to have to leave here soon. Eventually they'll send an army after you, and I don't want you to have to kill anyone."

He frowned at her. "You know I wouldn't do that, Luce."

Lucy pressed her forehead against Natsu's nose. "I know, but I'd rather not risk you getting hurt. We could always come back after a while, but I think we should leave."

Natsu turned his head so he could study her fully with one eye. After a bit, he asked, "Tonight?"

Lucy nodded. "Loke won't rat me out to my father, but I can't guarantee he won't try to kill you, or try to bring enough men out here to do the job. Gray will make sure he gets home safe and that he stays quiet about us, but it'll be better if we're not here in the morning."

Natsu could see how sad she was, could smell her tears as she tried hard not to let them fall. "Go put your bag together," he said, nudging her softly. "Don't worry about food. I'm going to set up some runes and once you're ready we'll leave."

Lucy worried her lip with her teeth. "What are the runes going to do?"

"They'll just let me know when someone enters the area. I'll keep tabs on the traffic and some day we can come back when they stop looking for you here."

Lucy gave him a sad smile and then gave him a peck on his nose. "Thank you, Natsu. I'll be out soon." As Natsu took to the sky, Lucy entered the front door and quietly snuck up to her room to pack her bag.

* * *

"So you're telling me you haven't actually tried to bring her home?"

"Yep."

"But why?! She's being kept by a dragon!"

Gray chuckled. "You're kidding, right? Did you see the way that lizard acted with her? He's a damn dog when it comes to her. She's calling the shots, trust me." Gray took a drink before getting to his feet to walk around a bit. "Listen Loke, she doesn't want to marry Laxus. She doesn't want to be queen and she doesn't want her father to keep using her as he always has. You've been her guard and friend for a long time, but I've known her longer. She's resented that life since her mother died, but she's tried to make it work.

"So far, it hasn't, and it's been years. If what she wants is to get out and live her life the way _she_ wants, I'm not going to get in the way."

"But that's your _job,_" Loke argued. "You were sent _by the king_ to find and retrieve the princess. So do it!"

"No." Gray crossed his arms and stood defiantly. "I refuse to take her back, Loke, and I'm trusting you to respect her wishes as well."

Loke shook his head. "I can't do that." He pushed out his chair and got up. "That monster has bewitched her somehow and I am going to put an end to it, like you should have months ago. I'll try talking with her first, but if that doesn't work, the dragon dies. With or without your help" With that, he grabbed his sword and left the room.

Gray just watched him go with a sigh. He blew out the candle on the table and moved towards the window. In the dark, he watched Lucy, as he had been during his conversation with Loke. She tugged a few times on the rope wrapped around Natsu's neck, making sure her bags were secure. Then she climbed up and settled between two large spines on Natsu's back, right between his wings. Natsu got to his feet and wiggled his torso a bit while he turned and primed his wings for take off. He glanced back at Lucy, waiting for her signal.

Lucy turned around to look back at the house. Gray leaned forward so that he was in the moonlight and waved at her. He couldn't see her expression, but he knew she would be smiling sadly as him as she lifted an arm and waved back. Then she turned forward and they swiftly took to the air, becoming a dot in the night as they flew off to find a new place to stay.

In the silence of their departure, Gray continued to stare off into the sky, ignoring the way his heart clenched as they grew smaller and smaller. When they eventually disappeared, he wiped the tears in his eyes and pushed himself away from the window.

It had been an honor to serve her, both as a knight and as a friend. He sincerely hoped that she could find what she was looking for out there somewhere.

And hoped even more fervently that he would see her again. Soon.


	11. Fight Club

**I had fun with this. There might be a sequel.**

**This is unedited.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy hated to admit that she was having fun, but she was. When Michelle had first broached the idea of sneaking off to see her new friend's fight club, Lucy had balked. There was no way she was going to risk her father's ire over something so dumb. Watching people beat the snot out of each other for money? The idea had never appealed to her.

Then her cousin had started talking about all the hot guys they'd see, the rush from sneaking out, and how sad she'd be if she had to go alone. Reminding Lucy of the danger of going alone had eventually convinced her to agree to the plan.

That was how she'd found herself here, in the middle of an exuberant crowd, trying to blend in in her only pair of jeans and an old sweater she'd borrowed from Levy, which, while enormous on her friend, was just barely big enough to fit her.

The crowd writhed around her, hot sweaty bodies heating up the air as their shouts and cheers echoed around the space. They were in some old warehouse in a shady part of town that Lucy had never been allowed to enter. Dust particles floated through the air as well as the smell of something stale, old and probably dead. Occasionally Michelle would grab onto her arm as she shouted, obviously having fun as she cheered and jumped with the crowd.

Despite herself, Lucy found herself grinning as she allowed her cousin to pull her along. The fighters had their hands taped and gloved up with fingerless mitts, nothing like the bare fisted brawling she'd expected. They appeared to be following some sort of rule set, although she didn't know what they were. Still, it was fun to watch. Despite using a lot of the same moves, each fighter seemed to have their own style, their own way of moving, and it was a treat to witness.

The ring cleared as the last match ended and Michelle squealed. "I won!"

"What?!" Lucy gasped as Michelle waved a ticket in her face. "Are you telling me you actually _bet_ on someone!"

"Yeah! Did you see that black haired guy? He looked like he ate nails for breakfast! Of course he was gonna win!" She craned her neck to check out the newest pair in the ring. As the ref introduced the next pair, Michelle scoffed.

"Okay, I know I said I wasn't going to, but I'm just going to bet one more time. That pink haired dude looks like a pushover, there's no way he's going to win. Every other fighter has been serious, and that guy is grinning like he's about to go on a ride." Michelle grinned at her. "You wanna bet? I could turn it in for you."

Lucy frowned as she looked towards the ring. There was another man in the closest corner with black hair, albeit much shorter than the previous guy, but he was straight faced and serious as he lifted his hands to the cheering crowd.

Across from him, there was a pink haired man who was bouncing on the balls of his feet and grinning from ear to ear. When the ref introduced him, his grin expanded and he bounced even more. The crowd booed as his smirk expanded and he exchanged a few words with the other fighter. The black haired man flicked the man off, while he just laughed.

"He's so jittery, there's no way he's going to do well. It's obvious he's hiding his worry behind that fake bravado," Michelle said. "Last chance, you want me to put some money on the Ice Man?"

When Lucy didn't respond right away, Michelle took a step away, stopping only when Lucy grabbed her arm. "Here." Lucy stuck a fifty dollar bill in her hand. "Put it on the pink haired one."

"Salamander?" Michelle asked, surprised. "You want to bet on the Salamander?"

"Yes." Lucy continued to study him as her cousin walked away. She couldn't explain it, but she had a feeling that he wasn't actually jumpy, wasn't actually nervous. He looked excited and even though he was constantly in motion, she didn't think it was nerves.

He looked _excited_. He looked ready to fight and win.

It was the glint in his eye, so different from the others they'd seen so far. It wasn't cold or calculating; it was warm, happy, _confident_. Where the others had had a few scrapes, a few still bruised, he was completely untouched outside of a thin scar on his neck. He shook out his hands, which she noticed sported a lot less tape than the other fighters as well.

Michelle returned just as the ref moved to the center of the ring again. She handed Lucy her ticket just as the bell rang. In a blink, the Salamander was across the ring, on the offensive and crowding his opponent. The Ice Man managed to make a little distance before being cornered once more across the ring.

The crowd, the shouts, the smell all melted away as Lucy watched the fight. The Salamander moved differently from anyone else she'd ever watched. He was all aggression, constantly getting into his opponent's space, constantly on the move, constantly attacking. The Ice Man fought back, of course, but even when he was blocking the hits, the Salamander was still attacking as well.

Lucy got caught up watching the way his arms blurred from how quickly they moved. His muscles flexed and loosened, flexed and loosened, sweat beading up more and more as he moved. His feet were in on the action, too, constantly swinging out to try and trip his opponent.

He jumped back to avoid a kick to his midsection before getting close once more. The brief distance drew Lucy's gaze to his chest, where twin piercings glinted from their place in his nipples. The sight sent a flash of heat through her as he swung out twice more at the other's torso. As the Ice Man lowered his arms to defend, the Salamander swung his body in an arc. His torso swung downward, his hands taking his weight as one of his legs snapped into the air to collide with the other man's head. The Salamander regained his feet easily as the Ice Man crumbled. The crowd went absolutely wild as the ref checked the downed man. He tried to regain his footing, but only staggered and fell over again. He waved at the ref, who threw his hands up and announced the winner.

The air seemed to disappear from the room a moment before the crowd exploded. Jeers and cussing filled the air, punctuated only slightly but cheers. Michelle grabbed her arm and shook her, but Lucy barely noticed.

The Salamander raised his arms and walked a small circle around the ring, stopping when he met her eye. He was attractive, there was no doubt, with a chiselled jaw, smooth cheeks and straight nose despite his profession. His eyes were dark, so dark she couldn't tell what color they were. As she continued to stare, his smile slowly spread, his expression changing to one that made her insides heat up as she reminded herself to breathe. Mouth dry, her tongue came out to wet her lip, making the man grin even wider.

Michelle yanked on her arm just as someone cut in front of her, causing her to lose sight of the man as she was pulled away; the magnetism that had held their gazes broken. "I can't believe you were right! Did you see that guy?! He was an animal! The other guy barely got a hit in!"

"Ye-" Lucy swallowed, her dry throat not helped at all by her dry mouth. "Yeah…"

The remainder of the night passed in a blur. Lucy collected her earnings, nearly two thousand dollars, before rejoining her cousin in the crowd. Even though she tried, she just couldn't get into any of them the way she did before. None of the fighters drew her attention the way the Salamander had, and despite trying not to, she spent the entire night searching the crowd for him. A head of pink hair should have been easy to spot, but she couldn't find anything other than boring brown, black and blond.

As the last fight ended, Michelle pulled her quickly through the crowd and out of the building, her laughter still bubbling out of her. "That was so exciting!"

"Uh, Michelle?" Lucy tugged on her arm. "Didn't we come to see your friend? I thought we were going to meet someone."

"Oh, yeah no, that was a lie."

Lucy froze. "What?"

"I don't know anyone here," Michelle said. "I didn't think you'd come if I told you I'd just heard about this place."

"_Michelle!_" Lucy hissed. "We are two women in the most unsavory portion of town on our own with no help?!"

"Relax," Michelle responded, whispering as well. "I've got us covered." She opened her bag to reveal her hand, wrapped around the handle of a taser.

"Michelle, this was irresponsible!"

Michelle scoffed and pulled Lucy's hand through her arm. "We'll be fine. We're only three blocks from Main Street, what could happen?"

They'd only made it a block before they ran into trouble. They were walking quietly when they were both suddenly grabbed by something in the darkness and yanked into a pitch black alley. "Is that them?" asked a voice from the darkness.

"Sure is," replied the person holding Lucy. Panic was making it hard to breathe, so Lucy focused on her breathing as she was forced to her knees, same as Michelle at her side.

"So, did you and Salamander _really_ think you could pull one over on me?" Lucy couldn't make out the person speaking, but it didn't matter since she couldn't find her voice anyway. "How'd you convince Gray to go along with it, huh? He's a good fighter, and while I know he vouched for the new kid, I also know there's no way he'd go along with something like this without good reason."

Michell tried to answer. "W-we don't kn-know what you're t-t-talking ab-"

A smack rang out and Lucy gasped as Michelle began to cry. "Look girly, lying to me isn't the way to play this, alright? I saw your friend here making googly eyes at the Salamander, so I know you know each other. I'm going to need you to hand over-"

Something slid across the ground and landed near Lucy's hip. When she looked down, she could see some sort of flashlight had landed next to her. The next second, the hands holding her still were suddenly gone. She caught herself as she fell forward, just in time for Michelle to be pushed into her. There was the sound of a scuffle behind her, but when she turned to see, it was already over.

Two men were laying in heaps on the ground and someone was standing over them. In the dark, she didn't recognize them, but when they met her eyes, she realized she recognized the eyes.

"Salamander, how nice to see you." A click behind her had Lucy whipping around to find a gun trained on the man who had just saved them.

"What the hell are you doing Porla?" came the response. The Salamander pulled his hood down, revealing a scowl. "Assaulting women on the street, really? Is this how you conduct business? Does Gray know you do this?"

"You don't have any room to talk, Salamander. I told you I don't tolerate cheaters in my ring."

Salamander scoffed. "And you think because someone made a good bet they cheated?"

"I saw the way you two looked at each other. You're obviously in cahoots together."

Lucy wanted to say something, but she couldn't seem to find any words. She wasn't even the one with a gun pointed at her! "Yeah, so I ogled a hot woman and you immediately assumed that we were working together?"

"That was more than ogling, boy, don't lie to me," Porla growled.

"Whatever." Salamander stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a wallet, ignoring the way Porla tensed as he did so. "How much did you make?"

Lucy didn't realize at first he was talking to her, until he knelt down and drew her attention. "How much did you win?" he asked softly.

"T-two thousand," Lucy squeaked.

Natsu opened his wallet and pulled out a small pile of cash and stepped passed them to toss the bills at Porla's feet. "There, happy? Now you're not out anything." He snapped his wallet shut and returned it to his pocket.

"You know I only joined because Gray asked me to come with him on occasion. If you didn't want us to fight, you shouldn't have paired us up. I've been sparring with him for over half my life, I know his weaknesses." Lucy felt the air charge as he spoke, his voice growing more and more cold. "I'll let Gray know I'm not coming anymore, right after I tell him about this little instance. I can guarantee you he won't be coming back either. Good luck finding a new champ."

Still ignoring the gun, the man turned around and helped both women to their feet and then pushed them ahead of him as he remained between them and Porla as they returned to the sidewalk. Once they had turned the corner, he released them but remained a few steps behind. "I'll walk you guys to Main Street, just in case he decides to try and stop you again."

Michelle looked absolutely terrified as she held her hand over her cheek and continued to move forward, so Lucy turned toward the man. "Thank you for your help."

"It's not a problem. It's my fault anyway."

Lucy shook her head. "I don't see it that way."

"Well, if I hadn't been staring at ya, he wouldn't have gotten the wrong idea." He ducked his head as he rubbed behind his neck. "And I apologize for the way I talked about ya in the alley. I figured he'd respond to it better if I worded it that way, but I still didn't like saying it."

"I- it's okay, really," Lucy said, feeling her face and neck heat up. "I'm sorry for getting you in trouble."

"Nah, it's fine," he said, waving off her apology. "It was fun for a couple nights, but most of the fighters are real assholes. I only went to support my buddy. He likes to use the club as a way to destress when I'm not available to spar." He smiled at her, revealing a dimple in one cheek. "Are you two okay? I honestly didn't know he'd rough up women like that, or I'd never have joined."

Lucy tried to get Michelle's attention, but she appeared to be in shock as she remained unresponsive. Lucy eventually managed to move her cousin's hand and saw that her cheek was a little rosy, but her eye and mouth were fine and she didn't see any blood. She instantly felt bad about not being able to find her voice in the alley.

"I- I think she'll be okay. Nothing some ice won't fix."

"That's good." The man sighed as his phone rang. "Sorry, I have to take this. It's my buddy." Lucy nodded as he put the phone to his ear.

"Yeah?" After a beat, he spoke again, but in another language. If Lucy had to guess, she'd say Russian. She had a friend who was Russian and occasionally went off when she was angry so she could swear in public. He sounded angry, so she assumed they were talking about what had happened. Turning to her cousin, she tried once more to get her to talk.

It took her a bit, but eventually Michelle seemed to come to and looked at her with wide eyes. "Lucy, we were grabbed off the street and accused of fixing a fight!" Michelle's eyes lit up and she began to smile. "That was so invigorating! Can you imagine what the girls will say when we tell them about this? They're going to be so jealous!"

Lucy gaped at her cousin before winding up and punching her in the shoulder. Michelle squeaked, but Lucy didn't let her get away. She grabbed her cousin by the jacket and yanked her close. "This was a foolish idea, and we are never doing it again, do you understand? I don't know how you became such a thrill seeker, but I am not going to enable this behavior anymore! I refuse to be an enabler." Lucy yanked her forward, her anger burning hot through her.

"We could have been hurt or worse. I don't know why you find that so exciting, but you need to stop doing these kinds of things. I am not going with you next time, so don't even bother asking me, do you understand?"

Michelle whined as she was pulled along, but didn't fight her too much, knowing Lucy would need to cool down. It was always like this. Shock completely gone, she looked over her shoulder at the man following them to find him frowning at them, phone still to his ear. She grinned before leaning closer to Lucy. "So, I'll just make myself scarce."

"Wait, what? Why? Where are you-"

"Thank you for your help," Michelle said, whipping around. She kept her smile in check as she sincerely apologized to the pink haired man. No need to let him see how thrilled the evening had made her as she made her escape. Her cousin had obviously liked the man, and after what had happened in the alley, she approved. There was no other way to repay the man than to leave the two of them alone.

"I live nearby, but my cousin still has a bit of a walk," Michelle said standing straight again, doing her best to look concerned. "Do you mind making sure she gets home safe?"

"Uhhhh, sure?"

"Great! Thank you." Michelle pulled Lucy close for a hug and whispered, "You're welcome," before pulling away and hurrying off.

The man spoke once more into his phone before stopping at Lucy's side. "Is she going to be okay?"

Lucy fumed as she watched her cousin walk away. They'd come together in Michelle's car, and while she only had a couple blocks to go to get home, Lucy had nearly two miles to walk across town. Meeting the man's eyes, she found herself nearly caving.

He was the most handsome man she'd ever seen, and that wasn't including what she'd seen under his sweatshirt. The thought of spending more time with him intrigued her so much, she could feel her body flushing as her hands itched to reach out and touch him.

She'd never been affected by a man in such a way, and it honestly terrified her a bit. Not trusting herself, she began to follow her cousin. "I'm sorry for her, but I really don't need you to walk me home. She dragged me along, so she can take me back home. Thank you for being so willing though, uh, Salamander."

"Natsu," the man said with a little wave. "My name's Natsu, and really it was no problem. Uh, before you go-"

Lucy cut him off. "Sorry, if I don't go now, she'll get away from me and I really will have to walk home. See you around maybe," she called before dashing off after Michelle. She caught her a minute later, covering her cheek with makeup in the light from a shop.

"_What was that?_" Lucy hissed. "Leaving me with some strange man!"

"A hot strange man."

"Who could have kidnapped me for all you know!"

"Oh please," Michelle said as she put away her make up. "After that performance in the alley, I don't think you have to worry."

"Just take me home already," Lucy growled, dragging Michelle with her toward the car.

"Did you at least get his number?" Michelle asked.

"Why on earth would I do that?" Lucy asked.

"Because he was _hot_ and _interested_!" Michelle answered.

"They always are," Lucy responded glumly. "Can we go home now?"

Michelle sighed but didn't say any more as they arrived at her car and got in.

_Uh, before you go-_

Lucy was quiet the rest of the ride, thinking about the man and his ridiculous hair, and the way he fought, how he had smelled, the flash of his nipple rings-

She shook the thoughts from her head as she left Michelle's car, giving her a little wave as she headed back through the rear gate to sneak back inside.

Impure thoughts aside, she needed to forget the man. Not only was he not someone she'd likely see again, even if she did, he wasn't the type of person she hung out with. There was no point dwelling on him.

Slipping into her bed later, she allowed herself one small fantasy before she slipped into sleep. One where they found each other again, cleared up the air and even started dating. She fell asleep to thoughts of those big hands holding her own, strong, firm lips on hers, and pierced nipples pressed against her skin.

And they did find each other again, each night for the next few weeks, safe in her dreams

Until…

Three weeks after she broke out with Michelle, Lucy stopped at a new coffee shop on her way to class. Teaching came with consistent hours, but she still somehow found herself running late once every other week. Without time to make her own breakfast, she decided to stop for a sandwich and coffee so she could make it through the morning.

She was waiting in line when she suddenly felt the hair on her arms stand up, her entire body tuned into the fact that someone was watching her. She scanned the shop, stopping once her eyes snagged dark green eyes beneath a mop of pink hair. A slow grin spread across his face as he mouthed a word at her.

_Hi._


	12. Flawed Goddess

**So I was supposed to be working on the next bonus chapter for Surprise Guest, but I had another idea I wanted to get down quick. Then 'quick' turned into a fourish day event, using every available minute and some I stole from doing actual productive adult stuff (sorry to my husband and kids...)**

**'Quick' also turned into a story that's north of 18k words pre-editing so... yeah. It's much too long to add here, so I'm going to give you guys a bit of an appetizer, and if you're interested, keep an eye out for it in my stories. I'll be starting a new one titled 'Flawed Goddess' sometime soon where I will be posting it. I kept adding edits as I was going, so there's a lot of work I need to do on it, but hopefully it won't take long.**

**For now, here's a sneak peak!**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy ignored the yelling happening nearby as she focused on her work. Why they had to argue so loudly she would never understand. It wasn't like they hadn't had problems with other pantheons in the past, so why were they getting so worked up? As one of them broke a table against the wall, again, Lucy wrapped up her cloth and thread and left the main hall to head for the garden.

It wasn't that she didn't care, but Lucy was lacking in a lot of areas when it came to her godhood. She was the youngest, for starters. She'd also been an orphan since she was a child, and she'd never had a proper teacher. Their pantheon was more cutthroat than most, so instead of helping her figure things out, the rest of the gods and goddesses had done just enough to make sure she could fend for herself without dying.

Her parents had died in the previous war. While she'd been visiting them near the battlefield in between fighting, they'd been killed with a sneak attack. The other gods had arrived in time to save her, but she'd already been hurt. During the scuffle, something had hit her across the face, cutting her below one eye and scarring her. Alone, and now damaged, the other gods had taken the opportunity to sway her parents' followers away from her instead of trying to help her. She'd grown up alone and learned only what she was able to teach herself, which hadn't been enough.

When she had come of age, she'd received a large black tapestry, a spool of golden thread, and been given the title Lucinda, goddess of the Stars and the Night Sky.

At first, she'd been thrilled. Her mother had been the former keeper of the stars, and she had thought that taking the position might bring her closer to her mother's followers so she might learn more about her. That was her goal, anyway, until she realized the true gravity of what the gods had done.

Without guidance, Lucy had matured too slowly. The humans that were alive by the time she was able to visit their world had no knowledge of her parents or her mother's role as keeper of the stars. Being in charge of the night sky was an honor to her, but to the humans, her role meant nothing. Her stars did glow, but not as much as the moon, and since they didn't help the humans in any significant way, it was hard for her to find followers. Why bother wasting offerings on a goddess who didn't provide anything useful or valuable to their lives?

No followers meant no power in the human world. No followers meant no way to interact with the human world. No followers meant she was limited in her emotions for anything outside of her family and her job. She often wondered if the gods had done it on purpose, so that she wouldn't be upset that she wasn't involved in their decisions. If they had, it had worked. They never asked for her input, and since she didn't care, she didn't offer any.

Instead, she spent her days working on her tapestry, perfecting the night sky.

Even if the others looked down on her work, or as was more likely the case, they didn't care, she did. Her constellations were the whole reason for her existence. They had personalities, and stories, and she cared for them with every little bit of her limited emotional energy.

She carefully unfurled her tapestry and worked on her newest star as the noise from the fountain and the surrounding birds drowned out the fighting behind her.

She was just finishing up her newest constellation when she heard voices.

"-you believe she said that?! As if my job is any less important than hers! It was my research that won us the last war!"

"Ye don't hafta tell me that, shrimp. I was on your side."

Levy rounded the corner and threw herself on the nearest bench, cracking the marble with the force of her anger."

"I just can't believe her," Levy continued.

"Ultear?" Lucy asked without looking up.

"Yep," Gajeel answered as he allowed gravity to pull him down into the grass with a thunk. "She's tryin' ta play off shrimp's work for the next war, like usual."

"So you're definitely going to war?" Lucy didn't include herself, as she rarely felt like part of their pantheon. Gajeel was part of the Fareetal pantheon, but had technically joined when he became Levy's husband.

"Yes, and that bimbo thinks they can do it without me!" As goddess of books and research, Levy was usually the first one consulted when it came to finding the other side's weaknesses and how to fight them.

"How was she going to lead our forces this time?" Lucy asked.

Gajeel answered. "She was just gonna freeze time so the soldiers could walk across the field and kill 'em all. 'cept-"

"-that's now how her magic works!" Levy yelled. "Her magic doesn't manipulate time at that scale, and there's no way she will ever be powerful enough to do it! Ever! Worst, Makarov seemed to be listening to her! I don't know what's going on with her but-"

Lucy's hands froze as she felt something she'd never felt before. Slowly, she got to her feet as she tried to see into the human world. Without any followers, she continued to only see black and white shapes, but they were enough to see that she had felt it correctly. Someone had entered her temple.

And they were leaving her an offering.

Gajeel cracked open an eye soon enough to see Lucy disappear in a flurry of gold dotted black. Levy was still going off, completely unaware her audience had shrunk. He closed his eyes as she continued, content for the moment to listen to her rant.

Lucy appeared silently, invisible, behind the small temple she'd built for herself.

Without anyone's guidance, her temple was admittedly unimpressive. It was created out of large flat black stones she'd collected from the bottom of a nearby lake. She'd used clay to create a paste to hold the stones together and formed an altar out of a long piece of black wood she had sanded down. At least, she hoped they were black. Since it was one of only two colors she could see, choosing her stones had been guess work. It wasn't very large, and with the clumsy craftsmanship, it looked like something a child might put together.

Perhaps that was why her first visitor was a child.

She slipped along the side to watch the small form kneel in front of her altar. They had something in their hand that they set down before bowing their head and beginning to pray.

"Dear goddess! Uh…" The human faltered. "Your altar is really nice. I like the colors. They're much nicer than the other ones. Theirs are white and boring. They're no fun to visit, so thank you for making yours pretty."

Lucy smiled as she listened to what she deciphered was a little boy. Usually there were scripted prayers the humans would say at each temple, but since she'd never had any visitors, she'd never had a reason to put one together. She decided that she liked his better, this one way conversation.

"Um, I don't know your prayer, since no one else comes here. I'm sorry for that. I brought you some flowers, though." His voice perked up. "I know it's not much, but I don't have much. It's just me and my brother, so we don't have anything really nice. The flowers match your rocks, though, so I brought those. I can keep picking them and bringing them if you like. So you get an offering."

He scratched at his head as he turned around, as though someone called him. "I have to go, but I'll be back later." Before he left, he skidded to a stop. "Oh, and thank you for.. whatever you do!"

With that he dashed outside.

* * *

**Thoughts on who the little boy is?**


	13. Misunderstanding

**I made the mistake of writing this directly on the site last week and it had an error when I saved it, completely losing it. Needlessly to say, I was pretty salty about it, so it took me a while to get around to rewriting it.**

**This is uneditted.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading.**

* * *

Levy grit her teeth as the whirlwind in front of her nearly knocked her off her feet. Briefly, she worried about the safety of her books, but then the wind suddenly let up, and she was left staring at a tall, black skinned demon in the center of her room.

He groaned as he stretched and then cracked his neck. "That trip always makes me stiff." The demon sniffed as he opened his eyes, revealing bright red pupils. He grinned, putting his razor sharp teeth on display. "Hey Shrimp. What can I do for you?"

Dear gods above, she'd actually done it. She hadn't really expected it to work, but now that it had, she considered backing out. She glanced over his shoulder, at a picture on her shelf that had managed not to be knocked to the floor.

No. She _had_ to do this.

She straightened her spine. "I want-"

"Wait." He held up his hands. "Let me guess. I don't get to do this much, and I don't want it to end too quickly." Somehow, the demon had managed to move without moving, suddenly appearing across the room in front of her bookshelf. "Hmm… Did you find one of our books and decide to just try it out for fun? No, I got it." He appeared in front of her startling. "Boyfriend troubles? Hmm…"

He leaned down so he was eye level with her. "Maybe not. You look a bit young for that."

"I want help with-"

"Wait wait wait, just give me a minute." His head cranked around and looked behind him and then at her again. "Save a life? Or bring someone back?"

Levy straightened her spine. "I need you to heal someone for me."

"I was right. Save a life." He crossed his legs, not losing anything in height as he floated midair and lazily moved around the room, studying it. "So, who's the lucky soul?"

"My mother." Levy fought to keep her voice level.

"Sick?"

"Cancer."

He looked around and frowned. "Serious?"

"Yes," Levy said. "Stage four."

He groaned and flopped backwards, still floating in the air, and rubbed his face vigorously. "You sure she's still alive?"

"Yes," Levy answered firmly.

"Any way I can convince you to let me just bring her back healthy after she dies?"

"What?" She put her fists on her hips as she glared at him. "Why on earth would I let her die when you can just fix her for me?"

He began to speak softly, quickly in a language she didn't understand. He stood up and returned his feet to the floor. "Alright, here's the deal. If you make a deal with a demon, you get to have one wish granted, and then get to stay in the human world until the price for the wish has been paid, understand? I probably won't be here bothering you, except to make sure you're keeping up on your end of the deal. Or maybe I will because I'm bored, it's hard to say.

"But there are some gnarly requirements for different wishes."

The demon ticked them off on his fingers. "Sacrificing an arm. Losing years off your life. Actual animal or human sacrifice. Losing _your_ life. Etcetera etcetera etcetera." He looked at her again. "You sure you're up for that?"

"Yes." Levy clenched her fists to keep from shaking. "Yes, I'll do anything."

He stared at her without moving for a long time. Eventually, he sighed and asked, "Are you sure I can't just bring her back after? It's a better deal."

"No." Levy shook her head. "I don't want to put her through that."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty three."

His head jerked toward her. "For real?" He studied her for a moment as she glared before the surprise disappeared from his face. He groaned loudly and raked his hands through his long black hair. "Fuck." Suddenly, a tome appeared floating in the air before him.

Levy gasped when he aggressively flipped through the pages as he muttered to himself. The book looked old, older than any she'd ever seen before. Her mother had taught her how to properly care for a book before she could walk, so seeing him manhandling the book without a care had her wanting to rush forward and save it.

"Fuck," he repeated as the book disappeared.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

"Of _course_ he sent me." The demon growled and began to pace. "I can practically _hear_ that assclown laughing at me. Fucking Rogue."

"Who's-"

He cut her off. "It's cliche and dumb and I didn't actually wanna be here that long, but the price," he said, " for one healed human is your firstborn child."

A strangled noise left Levy's mouth. "I'm… I'm sorry, what?"

"You successfully summoned me, you're female and you're over eighteen years old, so that's the price." He crossed his arms and refused to look at her. "Your firstborn, or you choose another wish."

Levy wrapped her arms around herself and began to pace. She couldn't seem to align her thoughts, couldn't figure out how she felt or even how to answer him.

It was for her mother, though. The woman who had raised her, had given birth to her. She would do anything for her, and if this was what she had to do…

"Okay."

The demon flinched and then turned her way. "You sure?"

Levy nodded, positive that even from across the room, he could see the occasional tremor coursing through her body. "Yes, I'm sure."

He cleared his throat. "I could get another demon if you wan-"

"You're already here," she said firmly, "and my mother has suffered long enough."

He groaned again. "Alright. Fine." He put his hands on his hips. "Am I going to her or doing it from here?"

"From here." Levy chuckled despite the discomfort. "She'd kill me if she found out what I did."

"Fine." He stepped close. "Then I need you to think about her. A mental image as clear as you can make it."

Levy closed her eyes and focused on her mother's face. Her dark hair and eyes. Her matching earrings and necklace. The freckles on-

His fingers pressing against her forehead distracted her. His touch was surprisingly gentle and his skin felt just like a human's. The true difference was the heat. Natsu's skin was always warm too, but not like this. It was almost painful-

"Mental picture, Shrimp. I can't heal her without it."

Levy jerked away, surprised by the quiet of his voice. She opened her eyes to glare at him, but was surprised by just how close he was. Hastily shutting her eyes, she focused on her mother once more, and a few seconds later, the demon pulled away.

"Alright, all done."

Her eyes flashed open. "Are you sure?"

"Yep, she's all healed." He leaned back and reclined midair as he began to mumble to himself.

Levy ignored him for a while as she worked on containing her emotions. Her mother had been sick for nearly a year, and to hear that she was going to be okay was a huge relief. Her father had been a wreck at the thought of losing her. She chuckled as she cleaned up her tears.

Saving her mom was worth any sacrifice.

With a long cleansing breath, Levy got to her feet and stepped closer to the demon. "What's your name?"

He cracked open an eye to look at her. "What's it to you?"

"Well, we have a deal, don't we?" She fought to keep herself relaxed. "So what's your name?"

The demon rolled his open eye before closing it again. "Gajeel."

"That's a nice name." His only response was to snort at her.

She gathered herself once more and asked, "So… what do we start?"

"Excuse me? She's already healed, I told you," he said, eyes still closed.

"Not that, I mean… your end of the bargain."

His eyes slowly opened as he looked her way. "I'm not following."

"Well you want my firstborn, right?"

"Not _me_, but yeah, that's the price."

"Then when do we start?"

"What are you-"

"I'm sorry, does it work differently for demons? Can you not make them the same way as humans do? I haven't tried with a human before, so I don't have any experience with-"

"Wait wait wait, you think-" Gajeel jerked and fell to the floor. She stopped to stare at him, face completely red, as he gaped at her.

"_Oh…_"


	14. Reverse Cat Call

**I started this like… three months ago? Four? Time has no meaning anymore, so I'm not sure how long it's been. I've been distracted and busy, so it took too long is what I'm getting at. However, it's finished now! It's not what I was expecting, but I did work on it on and off for a long time. **

**I did do some editing this time to make sure it flowed, but just enough for that. Hope you enjoy! I have another version of this prompt coming soon.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

**Prompt: The most wanted woman in town has announced that she'll only marry the one who can open her front door with the key around her cat's neck. Many men try to hunt the cat down, chase and trap it, but to no avail. The cat is simply too quick, smart, and clever, and always finds a way to evade and avoid them.**

**You are the first to figure out the obvious: Do not chase the cat. The cat is befriendable. Get the cat to trust you, to genuinely enjoy your company, and you can hang out with the cat. You may eventually be allowed to touch the cat. The cat will freely let you take the key.**

* * *

"Levy? Stop chewing on your nails," Lucy scolded.

"I can't help it!" Levy yanked her hand away from her mouth only to start tapping her nails on the tabletop in a quick staccato. "What could it be? Do you know?"

"What could _what_ be?"

"The surprise!" Levy groaned and flopped onto the table. "Lucy, I'm going crazy."

The blonde laughed and patted her friend's head. "You're just fine."

Recently, their town's Protector had decided that he was ready to settle down. As the town's strongest fighter and leader of the guard, he was the town's most eligible and sought after bachelor. Women, and even some men, had tried to catch his eye since he was given the title, but he'd never been interested. Even visitors from nearby villages and the capital city had tried to get into his favor, but none had ever succeeded. Those things together had made his declaration a surprise to everyone in the village.

Marriage wasn't the only thing he had promised either. There was a secret, something special as an extra incentive to try and win his hand- his words, of course.

There was one catch, however. The only way to earn his proposal was to catch his cat, Happy, and bring him the bauble that hung from the cat's neck.

Lucy had been flabbergasted when she'd heard. The man was so arrogant! Not only did he want to watch the town fight over him, he'd drug his cat into it! She'd met Happy a time or two. It was hard to miss him with that bright blue fur. He mostly seemed to come out at night, from what she'd heard, but she'd seen him a few times during the day. He was a troublemaker who snuck into shops and wreaked havoc before running off; he sometimes even stole food from vendors on the street. Natsu usually came by once he'd heard to compensate for the damage, so his shenanigans were usually tolerated.

Lucy's encounters with the cat had been slightly different. The first time had been while she'd been reading a book in her backyard. Happy had hopped out of her tree, landing right next to her and scaring her half to death. After she'd calmed down, she'd handed him a bit of her snack and then gone back to reading. He'd rubbed against her a bit before wandering off and bringing her back a flower. He'd ripped it off of one of the plants in her garden, but she'd appreciated the gesture nonetheless. After thanking him, she'd been surprised when he stuck around. He'd curled up next to her leg, and she'd spent the afternoon petting him when she read aloud.

The second time she'd run into him was while she was in town shopping. He'd been running from an angry shopkeeper and hid under her dress. She'd found it funny at the time, so she'd helped him hide until the gentleman had returned to his shop. After he revealed himself again, she'd found it odd that he wouldn't look at her. He'd merely rubbed against her in thanks before bounding off again.

Levy sat up. "Why aren't you interested?"

As calmly as she could, Lucy rested her chin in her hand and turned to the side, hoping to hide her blush. "Should I be interested?"

"Yes!" Lucy could feel her friend's eyes boring into her. "You're the mayor's daughter, he's the town's Protector, and you're both about the same age. Isn't that the type of match your father would want for you? Why aren't you even _slightly _interested?"

_Because it's the match my father wants for me_. Lucy sighed and picked up her fork. "It's… complicated."

Lucy _was_ interested; _very_ interested. She'd spoken with Natsu a few times, and she'd liked what she'd learned about the man. He was not typical Protector material; his personality did not suit that of a high ranked warrior, and he didn't dress the way a Protector should. Every time she'd met him, he'd been in loose pants with an open vest and a strange looking scarf, and his pink hair looked as though it had never seen a comb. He was strong, interesting, extremely handsome, and so different from the other suitors her father had picked, which she'd appreciated.

However, she didn't like the terms to 'win his hand,' and she didn't want to be with the man just because her father had convinced the man to marry her. She knew he'd tried, how many times she didn't know, but he was currently at the top of her father's suitor list.

Levy sighed and stared off across the room. "I know what you mean."

Lucy glanced over and saw Gajeel leaning on the back legs of his chair as he ate and listened to the other guards chatting. With a chuckle, she turned back and watched Levy stare for a while before she realized she was caught and cleared her throat.

"Well, guess I'd better get going," Lucy said as she stood.

"Off to work?"

"Yeah. Father has a few things he wants to discuss and then I have a lot of paperwork to take care of for him."

Levy waved as they parted, then went back to subtly staring at Gajeel. The thing was, Lucy had caught him doing the same more than once. If only they'd just _talk_ to each other, she was certain their romance would bloom in no time.

Unlike her, with her uninteresting suitors and crazy cat man. She sighed as she headed home, already ready for the day to be over.

* * *

Lucy stormed through the streets, muttering every curse word she could think of as she let the night air try to cool her down. She wasn't sure why she was surprised by her father anymore. They had been fighting more and more lately, mostly due to her age and complete lack of interest in marriage.

"_You need to start making babies,_" she said mockingly, imitating him. "_You need to start making heirs before you get too old to attract any respectable man._" She groaned loudly. "I am _twenty years old_. I don't want kids yet!"

With a swift kick, a small rock was sent flying down the road. "Is it so terrible I don't want to marry someone he considers 'a perfect husband' for me? He doesn't even know me! I want to choose my own husband, damn it!"

A ruckus behind her drew her attention and she turned in time to see Happy skid to a stop behind her. He stared up at her, his tail twitching back and forth happily as someone ran closer. Lucy cocked a hip as he watched her, curious what he was up to. Considering the sound footsteps she could hear approaching, she was surprised he was bothering to stop while he was being chased.

The cat looked behind him and then back at her. He meowed when she didn't do anything.

"What? Do you think I'm going to help you?"

Happy just continued to watch her.

Lucy looked around and then kicked over an empty crate on the edge of the road. She toed it so it was cockeyed with the opening facing away from Happy and then turned around to continue walking. "Sorry your owner is a dingus. That should hide you for now."

A moment later the footsteps made it to the road behind her. "Excuse me!"

_Damn it_, Lucy thought. She just wanted some quiet to calm down, was that too much to ask for? She plastered a smile on her face as she turned around. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, Ms. Heartfilia, it's you." It took her a moment, but she eventually realized that the girl before her was Laki. What was she doing out so late? Wasn't she a bit young to be trying to get together with Natsu?

Laki wrung her hands together. "Are you, uh, also trying to find Happy?"

"No, I'm just out walking," Lucy said before cocking her head to the side. "Isn't Natsu a bit old for you, Laki?"

The girl flushed so bright, even Lucy could see it in the dark. "Well, I'll be sixteen next week, so my parents thought it might be a good idea to… to try, you know." She glanced up. "Unless… you were, um-"

"Nope, not me. I'm just out walking," she reiterated. She pointed the opposite way down the road. "I saw Happy go that way, if you still want to find him."

A sigh exploded out of the girl. "Thank you," she said before turning and dashing off.

Lucy tried to walk away, but the cat dashed ahead of her a short while later and meowed at her. She sighed as she continued to walk, hoping if she ignored him, he'd leave. When he didn't, she growled and turned on him. "I already lied for you. Will you go now? I'm not having a good night, and your owner is half the reason!"

The cat hunkered down, ears back and tail tucked, instantly making Lucy feel bad. She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling on it to try and help focus her. "Alright, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you." She squatted down, and the cat instantly jumped back, looking excited and ready to run. "I'm still not chasing you," she warned.

"I just want my father to stop trying to marry off," she said. The cat perked up as she began to spill her guts to him. About her reservations about the work they were doing and her father's goal to have her run for mayor to take over for him some day. About the many suitors he'd been looking through, and her desire to not marry anyone he picked, even Natsu, who she actually liked. The cat became noticeably attentive when she was talking about his owner, but Lucy swore him to secrecy, not at all concerned that Natsu would somehow find out.

"Not only that, Plue got out yesterday and I'm worried about him because he's scared of the outdoors, so it doesn't make sense that he'd leave, and I think my father did it." She sighed. "Things are just getting complicated… I didn't expect this when I was younger."

With a last glance at the cat, she got to her feet. "Well, now that you've heard my whole sob story, I think I'm going to go home." Lucy gave the cat a half wave and turned to leave. "See you around, Happy."

She was pleasantly surprised when he didn't follow her. Sighing, she drug her sorry self home and went to bed, surprised to find that she actually felt a little better.

* * *

"Miss?"

Lucy finished writing and looked up. "What is it, Virgo?"

"You have a gift," the maid said, holding up a box. It was banged up a bit and had a few small holes torn in the side. "I thought you might want to open it right away."

Lucy frowned. "I don't really have time for-"

"Miss, you _really_ want to open it right now." Virgo set the box on her desk, right on top of her work.

Confused, since Virgo was never this insistent, Lucy set aside her pen. "What's gotten into you this morning?"

Seeing that she wasn't going to just push the box away, Virgo nodded and then left, closing the door behind her. Lucy sighed as she finally looked at the box and noticed a note taped to the top. She pulled it off and opened it.

_Happy brought a friend home this morning. I remember seeing him at your house when I visited a few months ago and wanted to make sure he made it back to you._

_I hope he brightens your day,_

_Natsu_

A sound drew her eyes to the box. When it wiggled she grew even more hesitant to open it, until she heard a quiet meow. She shot to her feet and quickly opened the top to find Plue, a little dirty and obviously terrified, but alive. The cat jumped out of the box into her arms, meowing and purring as he rubbed against her. Lucy sat down heavily, holding Plue close as she cried; relieved that he was finally home.

That evening, when she saw the shadow outside of her window, she went to the kitchen to grab the fish she'd bought at the market that day, and went out to walk with Happy again.

* * *

"I don't believe you," Levy said, gaping at her friend. They sat in Lucy's private library, basking in the warmth from the open windows while enjoying some tea and treats.

"Why would I lie?" Lucy said.

"I don't think you're lying," Levy said, "I just don't believe you."

The blonde shrugged and drank some of her tea. "I don't know what to tell you."

"But _why?_" Levy asked, stressing the word.

"I already told you, I don't-"

"Is his cat a familiar?" Levy's eyes lit up. "Natsu is a witch! That's how he did it!" She laughed. "That's what his surprise is! He's a witch and Happy is his familiar! That's how he figured out that he needed to find Plue! I bet the cat told him and he went out and found Plue for you!"

Levy practically fell out of her chair as she vibrated with excitement. "He must like you, too!"

Lucy cocked an eyebrow. "Too?"

"That's why he found Plue," Levy continued, ignoring Lucy's words, "and sent him to you like a gift! That's why Happy is friendly with you and not anyone else!"

With a shake of her head, Lucy stood and gathered the dishes onto the tray for Virgo. "That's crazy Levy, and you know it. Come on." She helped Levy to her feet and ushered her towards the door. "I have to clean up so I can get back to work. I'll see you tomorrow."

"But Lucy-"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow, okay?" Lucy firmly shut the door behind her friend and then returned to her chair, not at all certain she believed her own words.

* * *

"You know, Levy thinks your master is a witch." Lucy had avoided walking with Happy for nearly a week. There had been a surge of people looking for him recently, and she hadn't wanted to deal with it. It had nothing to do with what Levy had said.

Nothing at all.

The cat meowed in response, tail ticking spastically behind him. He had seemed rather depressed waiting for her that evening, but perked right up when she appeared. She had been surprised to find the streets empty for the first night since she'd last joined him.

She chuckled when the cat's ears flattened and he huffed. His reaction humored her, but she avoided letting him see the entirety of her amusement. "I can't really imagine your owner being a witch, though. Can you? Cackling as he threw his herbs and bat wings into a cauldron to brew up potions. Flying on a broom and wearing a tall pointy hat."

Chuckling again, Lucy stopped at the end of town, looking out across the fields that were lit by the full moon in the sky. "I'd pay to see him do that. Not that I think I'd need to," she added, glancing down to see that he was sitting closer than usual. Looking back up at the moon, she continued. "Since you can't talk to him, I feel comfortable telling you that I like your owner. A lot. And not just because he's gorgeous."

She let out a long sigh. "He's so different from any man I've ever met. He's arrogant in a way that isn't insufferable and selfless in his duties as Protector. He's boisterous without being annoying, and loud in a way that draws the eye and makes you smile. He's quietly involved in everything in a way that's not invasive, but allows him to keep an eye on things. He's… he's just so _wonderful_. If nothing else, I wish i could be his friend."

She sat down right where she was standing, on the edge of the road with the long grass tickling her legs. "I've never wanted to be friends with someone so much. I think he would be a great friend. He'd listen to what you had to say, and he'd try to fix everything, all the time, because he wants to make you happy. But when it really, _truly _mattered, I think he'd know when you just needed support, and he'd listen quietly. Maybe hold your hand, or let you put your head on his shoulder."

Lucy tipped her head sideways, imagining a strong shoulder underneath it as she continued to scan the sky. "I think he'd listen to me rant about my father's ridiculous expectations. He'd laugh at the things I say to my father when he's in one of his moods. He'd reassure me that it's my life and that I should marry who I want. _When _I want."

Her eyes burned, surprising her when tears formed and spilled over quietly. Quickly wiping them away, Lucy cleared her throat. "I have Levy to talk to, of course, I just think it'd be different with someone like him, you know?"

Lucy leaned back, placing her palms on the road so she could more easily study the sky. With her head tipped back, she didn't see Happy move, but she did notice when he leaned against her. She tilted her head carefully and found Happy sitting, pressed close to her thigh.

She didn't say or do anything to draw attention to it, but Happy turned his head and met her eyes. He meowed and then turned back, his head also tipped back to look at the sky.

Content, Lucy lifted her face once more and quietly watched the sky with him, marvelling at the strange moment.

* * *

A knock at the front door drew Lucy's attention from her work. It was the second knock and Virgo had not come to open it yet. If it was someone for her father, Capricorn would have already been waiting, which meant it was a citizen. Lucy quickly picked up her papers and flipped them before standing. She reached the door just as another knock started.

"I'm so sorry for keeping you wai- Natsu!" Lucy jerked back, feeling surprisingly vulnerable. Spending so much time with his cat, without his permission or knowledge, suddenly had her feeling like she was doing something wrong. Luckily, that insecurity rapidly disappeared as she drank in his visage once more.

It had been a long time since she'd talked to him. It had been that awkward dinner her father had invited him over for- just the three of them. To his credit, he'd given no hint of being uncomfortable, and even less that he'd figured out he was there as a test from her father to assess their compatibility.

She cleared her throat and opened the door wider. "Would you like to come in?"

"Sure, thanks." He gave her a wide grin, making her suddenly feel very warm.

Once she'd shut the door, he held out a small bag. "Here."

"Th-thank you?" She took the bag, nearly jerking away when his hot hand grazed her own.

"It's nothing special," he reassured her. "Just the blanket you left with Happy."

Brown eyes collided with dark green as she looked up and found him standing just a little too close. "How did you-"

"I saw it when I was here last time," he answered. His eyes distracted her, causing her thoughts to stutter. Train of thought gone, Lucy took a step away. Using her desk as a blockade, she set down the bag and pulled out her blanket. It was warm, and she lifted it so she could smell that it had been washed.

"Happy sheds, so I cleaned it for you," he explained. "I hope that's okay."

"No, uh, that's fine. Thank you." Lucy returned it to the bag and set it on the floor. "I didn't honestly expect it to come back."

"I had to go find Happy this morning and he was still curled up in it." Natsu put his hands in his pockets, content it seemed to stick around. "Isn't it getting a bit late for you to still be working?"

"A little," she admitted, "but I have something I need to finish today." Feeling more confident, she folded her hands and leaned forward on her desk. "How about you? You must have a lot of free time if you can spend the morning washing and drying a blanket, not to mention hand delivering it all the way to my house."

Natsu chuckled. "It's really not that far," he said. "And I was training some new guys while I waited for it to dry." He came forward, and instead of sitting on one of the chairs, sat on the edge of her desk. "Don't worry, Ms. Secretary. I'm earning my paycheck, promise."

Lucy felt her face heat up. "Oh, no. No, I wasn't- I didn't mean to imply-" She clenched her fists and sat back, increasing the space between them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

He cocked his head, his smile slipping a little. "You didn't, I was just teasing you. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" she asked, trying to draw attention from herself. She made a show of moving the papers on her desk around.

"Actually there is. I wanted to ask if you wanted to get dinner with me. Tonight." Lucy was so surprised that the papers she was gathering slipped through her fingers as she slid them off the edge of the desk. When she squatted to pick them up, Natsu immediately joined her and helped her regather them. "I'm sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"No no, it's fine." She cleared her throat as she stood, holding her papers against her chest. "Can I ask… why?"

He grinned and shrugged. "I think we'd have fun."

Virgo interrupted, giving Lucy a moment to try and line up her thoughts. "I'm sorry I wasn't available to get the door earlier, prin-"

"It's fine," Lucy said, cutting her off before she could finish _that_ particular pet name. "I already answered the door."

"Do you need anything?" Virgo asked, eyes scanning Natsu.

"Yes, actually." Lucy swapped her papers for the bag with her blanket and walked across the room. Lucy lowered her voice and asked, "Do you mind taking this to my room?"

"Of course, miss."

"I have one more question," Lucy said, leaning forward slightly. "A request actually. Can you please ask Capricorn if my father has been in contact with Mr. Dragneel recently?" she whispered.

"I don't need to," Virgo answered. "I have already had him monitoring your father's activity when it comes to finding you a husband." That was new information for Lucy, but it was not a surprise. Her maid was very protective of her and her wishes. "He has not made any plans with Mr. Dragneel recently. I could ask him again when he's available if you'd like."

"Thank you." Lucy glanced over her shoulder and then back, an idea quickly forming in her mind. "When you do, can you also inform my father I will finish up the paperwork he asked for in the morning?"

Virgo frowned. "He said that it needs to be done today, miss."

"He won't mind," Lucy said with a smile. "When he asks, just tell him that Natsu asked me to go to dinner and I said yes."

The maid's eyes widened. "Are you-"

"It's not a date, but my father will think it _is_," Lucy said smugly, "and won't mind me not finishing my work."

"I will do as you've asked, miss." Virgo gave her a rare brief smile. "I will go fetch your jacket."

"Thank you." Lucy turned around, a smile on her face and butterflies in her tummy.

"So, what did you have in mind for dinner?"

* * *

Happy meowed, drawing Lucy's attention from the sky above. They'd been sitting silently for a long time, but for the life of her, Lucy couldn't find any words for the poor feline. He always seemed happy to listen to her talk about whatever came to mind, but she was having a hard time putting any of her thoughts into words.

Her father had come home that afternoon and informed her he'd chosen a husband for her. Just walked through the door and told her who he'd chosen and when the wedding would be as though they were discussing the weather before retreating to his office to take care of some business.

No matter what she'd done, he'd refused to talk to her, and Capricorn had not allowed her to enter the study, albeit with a regretful expression. She'd left soon after and had been walking aimlessly for hours. At one point, she'd found herself heading out of town, which direction she couldn't remember, and had very nearly continued walking.

She didn't even _know_ the guy. She knew the Makarov name, of course, since the patriarch of the family was the governor of the state, but she'd never met him or his grandson. She knew the middle Makarov had been part of a large scandal several years prior, but it had not affected life in their little town so she hadn't paid much attention to it.

Lucy didn't care how well off Laxus was, or that he was 'from good stock' and 'was a prime specimen.' That didn't make a good marriage. Her father was treating her union like another business deal, and _her _like a bargaining chip. She knew he only wanted to set them up because it would allow him some sway over getting additional funding for their town for whatever projects he'd been cooking up recently, and she wasn't going to just go along with it.

She didn't want to be part of some merger; she wanted a _marriage_.

When Happy suddenly appeared near her face and rubbed against her chin, she realized that she was crying. Tears were running into her ears and hair since she was laying on her back. She used her sleeve to dry out her ears and sat up to clean off her face. "I'm sorry I'm not better company," she said to Happy. He meowed and in a move that greatly surprised Lucy, jumped into her lap.

"Are you sure it's okay to do this?" she asked, hands hovering uncertainly. "What if I swipe your bauble when you least expect it?"

Happy meowed again before leaning down and rubbing his head against hand, the little gem within an inch of her fingers. Lucy tilted her head so she could study it and found a small red crystal. Looking closely, she could make out some sort of shape inside it, but it was too dark to figure out what it was for sure. He continued to rub against her, always with that crystal within easy reach.

She grinned and scratched his chin. "You're hoping I'll try to grab it, aren't you? You just want me to chase you."

The purring intensified, but he didn't move away. He rolled over exposing his belly, his head nestled in her hand. Lucy sighed and pet his head slowly. For the first time, she found herself tempted to grab the crystal. Happy's eyes were closed, so if she could just wrap her arm around him, she could easily slip his collar off, and thus, have the crystal. Hell, he might even just let her have it, considering how little he bothered trying to get away from her lately.

Still, she refused. It was the coward's way out.

"I won't use your owner as a scapegoat," she whispered, causing Happy to open his eyes. "Even if he would be a better match. Even though I like him well enough, and he set this whole thing up and I could easily…" Her hand moved to settle against the cat's belly without her even thinking. He froze, eyes focused wholly on her as his body tensed.

"It would be so easy right now, but I just… can't." She grit her teeth and released Happy as she shot up to her feet. "I need to stand up to my father and just tell him no. There's no other way." Happy meowed, sounding concerned to Lucy's foggy mind. "I don't want to marry Laxus, or anyone else he's chosen. I want to marry who _I_ want to marry. When _I_ want to get married."

She looked down. "And if he won't let me… then maybe I'll just have to leave."

Happy meowed softly as she left. When he tried to follow her, Lucy held out a hand. "No Happy, stay. I need time alone, okay?" She hesitated. "Thank you, though. For being around."

Lucy let out a long breath and turned to leave. "Hopefully I'll see you later."

* * *

"Pri- miss?" Virgo pulled open the door to Lucy's office. "Miss? You have a visitor." The maid opened the door wider and stepped inside, disappearing from Natsu's view.

"Is now a bad time?" Natsu asked.

"I… guess it is." Natsu took a step forward and realized that the room was empty. The maid frowned, alerting Natsu to the likelihood of a problem. He'd never seen the woman's face give away any emotion before.

"Where is she?"

Virgo ignored him and hurried away, heading up the stairs. "Please wait here, Mr. Dragneel."

Natsu's instincts had him following her as soon as she turned the corner and disappeared from sight. By the time he made it to the top of the stairs, Virgo had already started talking to someone. He stopped next to the corner, where he could still hear without being seen.

"-thought she was in her office, but she is gone. Did she speak with her father again?" Virgo tried to remain emotionless like usual, but she'd never lost track of Lucy like this before.

"No," Capricorn answered, "she hasn't. They fought this morning just before lunch and then he locked himself in his office afterward. He's still inside, but no one else has joined him all afternoon."

Virgo's hands twisted in her skirt against her will. "Has she been upstairs at all? She is not in her office, and I just finished vacuuming the upstairs so I know she's not in her room or the library."

"I haven't seen her," Capricorn said. "I'm sure she just went into town or for a walk. You know how she likes her space after a fight with her father." He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "Don't worry too much, I'm sure she's okay."

"I'm not worried," Virgo said, hoping her face was as neutral as usual. "I just don't know what to tell Mr. Dragneel about when she'll be back."

Capricorn arched a brow. "He's here again?"

Virgo nodded. "Yes."

The butler leaned forward and whispered, "Are he and the young miss…?"

"I don't know, but I believe he would be a better match than the man Mr. Heartfilia has chosen for her."

Capricorn glanced around as he stood again. "You know you should be careful about expressing your opinion like that where Mr. Heartfilia could hear you."

"I believe he knows it would be more hassle than it's worth to replace me," Virgo said, completely serious. "I will just have to tell Mr. Dragneel that I have no idea when she will be back. Thank you for your help."

"Let me know when she returns." Even though Capricorn looked as unruffled as usual, Virgo could tell he was worried.

"I shall." Virgo gave him a short nod before returning to their guest. "Mr. Dragneel, I am sorry, but I don't know… when…"

Virgo paused at the top of the stairs, surprised to find the foyer empty and the front door wide open.

* * *

"What do you think, Plue?" Lucy laid back, allowing her cat to stretch out against her side with his butt tucked against her armpit. He meowed quietly and then began to purr loudly in his uneven rhythm. Lucy chuckled. "I agree."

Sighing, the blonde curled her free arm under her head and stared up at the leaves above her, spying dots of blue where the sky peeked through. She'd fought with her father again, but this time, she'd refused to cave. What had followed was a shouting match like no other they'd had before. She wouldn't be surprised if she returned and found her things tossed onto the front lawn. Or thrown away.

Neither was very likely, since her father would never toss out her things on his own. He'd have the staff do it, and they would all probably box it up and hide it for her. She wasn't sure she cared one way or another, since she'd have to pack everything up anyway.

Because she had finally done it. She'd told her father no.

She suspected he'd been close to kicking her out until she'd pointed out how that would look to the town. Their mayor, turning out his only daughter because of a disagreement? Not only that, she was loved by the townsfolk. They were likely to riot if he were to act so rashly. For those reasons, he'd agreed to negotiate.

For agreeing to stay on as his secretary, she was allowed to move out into her own home. She would also start getting a paycheck, since he was cutting her off from his money so long as she refused to marry Laxus, or anyone else of his choosing. She'd already saved up a bit from doing odd jobs around town, but she would have to keep an eye on how much he was paying her. Her father was a businessman first and foremost, so he would do whatever he could to save a buck, even if it meant shafting her.

There was a lot to figure out, but for now, she was happy with her choice. She knew there were a few houses in town that were empty that she might be able to purchase. If she couldn't afford them, she could stay with Levy for a while until she got things settled. Feeling better than she had in a long time, Lucy closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax.

A loud meow in the distance startled Lucy just as she began to fall asleep. She lifted her head to find Happy standing nearby with his ears back, chest heaving as he panted. She lifted her torso and leaned on one elbow. "Hey Happy, are you okay?"

The cat bound forward and dropped something on the ground before backing away.

Lucy gasped when she realized what it was. "Happy… you can't give this to me!" She leaned away, as though it would disappear if she just didn't touch it.

It was the red gem.

Happy meowed and took more steps away.

"No no no no." Lucy pulled Plue close and scooted farther away from it. "I can't take that, Happy. I can't. I won't choose a husband this way. I _just_ got out from my father's clutches, I'm not going to let someone else, no matter how adorable you are, choose my fate like that. I _won't_." She pointed at the gem. "Take it back now."

Happy began to meow, loudly and obnoxiously, nothing like she'd ever heard from him before. He paced as he did it, back and forth, tail swishing angrily behind him. Lucy didn't move as he yowled, just watched in confusion until he finally stopped, paws planted on the ground and eyes focused angrily on her.

"I really wish I could speak cat right now," she said.

A sudden blast of heat had Lucy flinching and closing her eyes. Before it had passed, an annoyed voice shouted, "I _said_ you can't just leave because you're dad's being an ass, Luce!"

Shock had Lucy's eyes opening too early. She ignored the sting as she stared at where Natsu stood, in the exact same place Happy had been. Blinking didn't make the vision disappear. Instead, he moved forward to grab her by the arms. He shook her slightly. "You can't let him control you, Lucy, but you also can't run away because of him!"

Lucy's mouth slowly opened and closed as she stared at him. Natsu was there. In front of her.

Happy wasn't a familiar…

Happy was _Natsu_.

"You _are _a witch," Lucy murmured. "I can't believe Levy was right."

"Can you focus please," Natsu growled, exasperated. "And I'm a shapeshifter, not a witch."

"Levy will be so surprised," Lucy said. Shock had a firm hold over her, so she did nothing more than stare as Natsu continued to scold her. The words didn't stick, although she got the general meaning; he wasn't going to let her leave just because her father was being difficult.

Eventually Lucy managed to pull her thoughts together a bit and interrupt him. "Natsu, I'm not leaving."

"And I won't just- wait, what? You're not?"

"No, I'm not."

"But you said you were going to."

"I convinced my father to negotiate," she said.

Natsu released her and leaned away. "You did?"

"Yes."

"You're really not leaving?"

"No."

"Oh." Natsu sat back on his butt and stared at her. "Oh," he said again. Letting out a noisy breath, he ran his hands over his face. "I thought… when you weren't home I assumed… Gods, I feel like an idiot."

Lucy chuckled. "It's okay." Suddenly, his identity hit her like a ton of bricks.

It hadn't been Happy she'd walked and talked with, it had been _Natsu_…

Eyes wide, she leaned forward and socked him in the arm. Natsu yowled and wrapped his other arm around the injured limb. "What was that for?!"

"For lying to me!" Lucy gasped. "I told you things… I talked to Happy like I would Plue and _you_\- if you _ever_ tell anyone what I said, Natsu-"

"I won't, I won't!" He scooted farther away. "I won't tell anyone, I promise!"

"Good." She deflated, her emotions shifting too much for her to fully understand how she felt at the moment. "Why did you do it?"

"Not tell anyone I'm a shapeshifter? Because people get antsy about magic still-"

"Not that, I mean what you did with the town," she said. "Offering to marry whoever could catch Hap- you. Why did you do it?"

Natsu glanced away as he scratched the back of his head. "I heard what was going on with your dad, and I thought… I guess I thought that you might decide my offer was more appealing than whatever your dad had going on. I knew that you liked me at least a bit, even as just someone to be friends with. I thought it might be a better option for you."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "So you were, what, just going to marry me and be friends so that I could avoid a marriage I didn't want?"

"Well no, I was hoping I could… well, you know… I was hoping to…" Natsu's face continued to grow redder and redder as he faltered.

Lucy's own face grew warm as she looked away. "Well, that was nice of you," she said, "but you didn't have to do that for me."

"I wanted to," he said firmly. He chuckled and fell back. His arm covered his eyes as he groaned. "It was dumb, I know. I should have just talked to you."

"Yes you should have."

With a small smile, Lucy set Plue aside and crawled closer to him. When she bumped his side with her hand, he lifted his arm, eyes widening when he saw how close she was. "I appreciate the gesture, though. No matter how ill thought out it was." She leaned down and kissed his cheek.

After sitting back up, Lucy grabbed the red stone and handed it to him. "I believe this is yours." He took it from her and smiled.

"You know what this means-"

"_No_," she said putting her hand over his mouth. "If you want to-" Lucy gestured between them. "If you want this to be something, you'll ask me out like a normal person. And you will stop this nonsense with your alternate form, too."

Natsu grinned at her. "Are you sure? Maybe I like being chased."

_Was she sure?_ After she had finally gotten her father to lay off, was she really going to consider dating? It wasn't as permanent as marriage, but it felt close to being saved from drowning only to jump back into the water. Still, this time, _she_ would be the one in control. The one to make the choice and _decide_ who she was dating.

Looking at him, that choice grew even more appealing. He was a great guy, she knew that; hell, the whole town knew it. Literal hordes of people had thrown themselves at his cat- at _him_\- in an effort to be with him!

And even though he'd done what he'd done, his ego had never been the reason for the chase. He'd been trying to help _her_. That had to count for something, right? Combined with the comfort he'd provided her over the last few months, and finding Plue when he'd been missing, the least she could do was give him a chance.

Even so, she wouldn't make it easy for him. She wasn't some soft willed little girl ready to fall into his arms at the slightest smile. If they were going to be together, they were going to do it the right way.

With that decided, Lucy leaned forward with a grin. Natsu's smile faltered as she fluttered her eyelashes at him. "Perhaps I'll chase you then," she said as she cocked her head.

"Uh wh- what? Really?"

"Pfft." Lucy hugged Plue close and got to her feet. "If there's going to be any chasing, it better be mutual, kitty boy."

Natsu blanched. "Please don't call me that."

She held out her hand. "No promises." He looked at her hand and then at her. With a smile, she said. "Tell you what. I won't call you that in public. Like say… when we have dinner tonight?" His eyes widened. "My treat?"

His eyes lit up as his smile returned. He grabbed her offered hand and let her pull him to his feet with a swift tug.

"You're on."

* * *

**Plot Twist: The woman is a shapeshifter. She is the cat.**

**Happy November everyone :)**


	15. Cat Call

**This was the original one shot I made for the last prompt, but I wanted to use Happy to surprise you better. Now that I have, I can share this one.**

**Thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

It began as a joke, but once word got around, she made it known she would honor her deal: If someone could open the front door with the key tied around her cat's neck, she would marry them.

The men in the village spent night after night waiting for her cat to emerge, so they could try to catch it and take the key. A small thing, with tan fur and large brown eyes, it was fast and smart, and seemed impossible to catch. Still, there were always men willing to try.

Every night, the cat would crawl out from the open window on the second floor, climb down the tree, and leave through one of the holes in the fence. No matter what the men tried, the cat would always get away, and they'd spend hours chasing it through the streets.

It had been nearly a year, and even after men from dozens of towns had come to try, none had been successful so far.

Gray grumbled as he threw himself into his chair. Natsu caught his coffee as it tried to spill and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Rough night?" The man grunted and avoided his gaze as he picked up his cup.

The pair had joined a group of half a dozen men who had travelled to the town the week prior to help dig up new wells and a new irrigation system for the nearby farmland. The town was responsible for feeding a lot of the nearby towns, so when they expanded, there were always people willing to help. They were scheduled to be there for at least the next month, or until they finished, whichever happened first.

Natsu chuckled. "Did you really spend your night chasing that cat around again?"

"_I don't understand_," Gray groaned. "Lucy is never going to get married if she sticks with those conditions. That cat is _impossible_ to catch. Not only that, it's tricky and way smarter than any cat I've ever met."

"Hey! Happy is extremely smart!"

"Not like this," Gray said. "It's like it _knows_. It taunts you, and then runs away before you can catch it. Or worse, it tricks you or hides. I heard about a guy who climbed a ladder and fell because the branch was dead and rotted."

"Sounds like bad luck."

"No, I'm pretty sure it knew what it was doing." Gray crossed his arms and glared at the tabletop. "I don't know how it knows, but that's one smart cat."

Natsu shrugged. "Whatever you say man."

"Aren't you at all interested?" Gray thanked the waitress as she dropped off their breakfasts. "Lucy's gorgeous. How come you're not trying?"

"Because I value my sleep," Natsu said, "and I'd rather marry a girl because I like her, not because she's hot and I can catch her cat."

Gray's cheeks pinkened and he changed the subject. Neither brought Lucy up again during that meal, or for the rest of the week. They saw her around town occasionally, but other than that, neither brought up the cat, and Natsu didn't comment anymore when Gray stayed up too late, or went to work groggy.

* * *

The first morning they had off, Natsu found himself awake much too early in the morning. His insomnia often plagued him when he wasn't getting enough exercise during the day, but during these trips he usually didn't suffer. When he found himself awake before the sun had even risen, he didn't bother trying to go back to sleep. Instead, he got dressed and quietly left to walk around the town.

He'd been there a few times in the past, but he still enjoyed walking through the streets and seeing what was there. A few of the shops had moved around and a few new houses had been added on the north side. The sky was starting to lighten when he heard footsteps running up to him. When he turned around, he saw Lucy's cat bolt around the corner and then skid to a stop in front of him.

They stared each other down for several seconds, before the cat's fur began to go down. Natsu assumed it didn't see him as a threat, especially when it began to ignore him and search around the area. It was panting and twitchy, no doubt tired from all the running. That exhaustion bothered Natsu, so he looked around too.

He took a few steps over and kicked over a wooden box nearby so that it faced towards the wall before looking at the cat and turning to walk away. A few moments later, the men who had been chasing the cat entered the road he was on and yelled at him.

"Hey! You see a cat come through here?"

Natsu turned around and found six men behind him. He shrugged. "No, I haven't seen any, sorry."

The men grumbled before splitting up and heading in different directions. Natsu watched them go, a grin on his face. "Don't understand why they're working together," he mused out loud. He watched the box he'd kicked for a bit, but when nothing happened, he just walked passed and continued on his way.

A quiet meow had him pausing and looking over his shoulder. The cat was sitting on the box staring at him with an intensity that made him wonder if Gray had been right.

Natsu smiled and gave it a little wave, feeling foolish. "Be careful," he said before continuing on his way. His face heated up as he walked away. He couldn't shake the embarrassment, no matter how hard he tried.

It was just a cat. He talked to Happy all the time, so he had no reason to feel so weird about it.

What was wrong with him?

* * *

The next time he saw the cat was during the day. He'd snuck away to eat his lunch, leaving Gray to snore in the shade by himself. He was nearly finished when he spied it watching him from the grass. The cat watched him like it had the first time, with a stare unlike he'd seen from any other cat.

"Hello again." When the cat didn't move, Natsu rummaged in his bag. "I'm not sure if I have anything- oh, here." He pulled out a piece of cheese he'd missed and ripped some of it off to toss the cat's way.

The cat squinted at him but didn't make a move to get closer or to get the cheese. It just watched him, quietly and calmly. When he was done eating, Natsu stood up and the cat tensed, ready to bolt. "I'm not coming after you," he said. He leaned down and grabbed the piece of cheese he'd tossed. After dusting it off, he tossed it in his mouth. "Not gonna waste food," he said.

With a wave, he turned and left. "Have a good day," he said without looking back.

* * *

Gray cocked an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. What?"

"What what?"

"I can understand you don't wanna catch the cat, but I don't know why you're bothering with the weird story," Gray said as he took a bite of his meal.

"Wha- why does it sound like you don't believe me?" Natsu asked.

"Maybe because I don't?"

Natsu frowned. "Why not?"

Gray snorted. "Come on, man. You should know why." He took a bite of his food, surprised when Natsu continued to watch him incredulously. "That cat literally never goes out during the day, that's why. It runs around at night and that's it. There's no way you saw it while the sun was still shining."

Natsu sighed as he returned to his food, ignoring Gray for the rest of the meal.

* * *

Natsu cocked an eyebrow as he heard a herd of men running nearby. Did they never give it a rest? Had Lucy considered what her words would do for that poor cat? All it wanted was to walk around at night, and instead, it was chased night after night with no break. He was already waiting when it came flying around the corner. He allowed the tarp he was holding up to fall, getting the cat's attention, before he walked closer to the corner. He saw it run under the tarp, so he stopped closer to the crossroads and looked down one of the roads.

When the herd reached the road, Natsu glanced back and before they could ask, he pointed down the road he was facing. They nodded and thanked him as they yelled at each other and split up, some of them running around to head it off.

Soon, they were gone, leaving him alone with the cat as it poked its head up again. Natsu chuckled as he went and sat across the road from it. He leaned against the building and crossed his arms so he could study the cat as intently and it was studying him.

The cat sat on top of the tarp and curled its tail around its feet. Natsu stared at it for a little while trying to figure out what to do. "So, you do seem to understand things better than most cats. Maybe Gray was right," Natsu mused, "and you are smarter than Happy."

The cat's ears flicked around before settling on him again. He sighed. "So, what do you think about being chased all the time?" The cat just stared at him and he wondered if he was going crazy.

"That owner of yours should have thought about this whole thing a little more. I'm sure you used to enjoy quiet nights, wandering around town on your own. Now you spend your evenings being chased by multiple men."

With a sigh, Natsu got to his feet. "Sorry I can't help you more than I just did. Hopefully they give up soon so you can go back to your normal routine.

"Good luck."

Natsu reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of chicken. He walked to the cat's side of the road and left it on top of a box about a dozen feet away. With a last smile, he turned and left.

* * *

"You know, it's really not that weird that I'm talking to you. I talk to Happy all the time when I'm home."

Natsu had his hands in his pockets as he walked along the road. He'd met the cat shortly after he started walking, and it had been with him ever since. Any time it heard people coming their way, it would run off while Natsu would point the newcomers in the wrong direction. Once they were gone, the cat would join him once more. It remained far enough away that he couldn't reach it, and he just talked to it as they strolled.

Natsu missed Happy when he wasn't home, so it was nice to have the cat around. He'd started going out for a walk every evening, and the cat always found him. Some days it would lead the men in the wrong direction first, and sometimes Natsu would find it waiting near the inn where he was staying. Either way, he spent an hour or two every night with the cat before returning and going to bed. He'd told Gray the first time that he was going for a walk, and the other man hadn't asked about his nightly habit since. Natsu found it funny when Gray would whine about all his wasted time at night when he knew where the cat had been the entire time.

"You know, it would be nice to at least know your name," Natsu said. The cat was closer today. Only a couple feet separated it from Natsu's feet. He had no delusions that he would be able to catch the cat, even with how close it was, but he appreciated that it had decided to trust him so much.

"It seems odd to talk to you without knowing your name. Would you mind if I came up with something to call you?"

The cat meowed softly while staring up at him, so he took that as a positive sign. "Hmm. Let's see. I don't know much about you, so it'll be difficult to come up with something good. How about Goldy? For the color of your fur?"

The cat growled quietly, making Natsu chuckle. "Alright, that's a no. Hm. How about… Brownie? For the color of your eyes?" The cat growled again, so Natsu continued to think about it.

After several negative responses, Natsu sighed. "Well, I don't know anything about your owner, so I have no idea what she would name you." He scratched his head. "How about I just call you Lucky? I know it's pretty generic, but I'm running out of ideas."

The cat continued to walk with him, staring straight ahead as it contemplated his suggestion. Natsu waited, until something suddenly touched his leg. He stumbled to a stop, surprised to find the cat rubbing against him. It purred quietly as it rubbed against both legs while he remained completely motionless.

"Okay, it is taking every bit of restraint I have to not pet you right now, so if that's not okay, I'm going to have to ask you to move away again."

The cat meowed and moved away after rubbing its face against him once more.

Natsu felt lighter than air as they continued to walk, extremely excited about having made friends with this strange little cat.

* * *

"I'm sorry, you _what?_" Gray punched Natsu in the shoulder, making his friend grunt. "You mean to tell me you've been hanging out with that cat all this time and you haven't told me yet?!"

"Yeah? What's it to you?" Natsu glared as he held himself back from retaliating. He needed the work and didn't want to get sent back early. "The cat's my friend, not yours."

"Dude, it's a _cat._"

"Still, it's my friend. Leave it alone."

Gray grabbed Natsu's shirt. Natsu almost shoved him off until he saw that Gray wasn't trying to fight him. The other man leaned in close and whispered, "Come on man, help me get the key."

Natsu jerked away. "What?! No!"

"Come on, Natsu! What's the point if you're not going to get the key? At least help me get it!"

"No," Natsu said as he pushed Gray off. "I'm not doing it."

"Why not?"

"Because that's not what our friendship is about."

"I'm gonna say it again, _it's a cat_."

"I'm not doing it, so stop asking!" Natsu stalked off to find somewhere else to dig. Gray didn't try to talk to him for the rest of the day, and he didn't try to either.

That night, Natsu almost didn't go out for his walk. They'd be leaving soon, though, and he didn't want to miss the opportunity to hang out with it again. He didn't care that it was a cat, it had a personality that he'd never found in another animal, and he vastly enjoyed their walks.

When he left, he didn't see it waiting for him, so he walked into town to their other meeting spot. It was waiting there for him, serenely sitting on top of a barrel. It meowed when he arrived, and he had to remind himself that he shouldn't reach out. He hadn't made it this long just to scare it away now.

"I think I'm a bit late, huh?"

The cat meowed before jumping off and landing at his feet. He held his breath as it wrapped itself around Natsu's feet before beginning to walk off. Natsu couldn't stop his smile as he followed after.

"You know, I'm going to be leaving soon," he said out loud. "I won't be able to walk with you and get you this peace time anymore once that happens." He glanced down and was surprised to see that cat had stopped. It's tail and ears were drooped as it stared up at him. He waited and eventually the cat caught up to him again and walked quietly at his side.

Natsu scratched his head. "You know, I've been wondering for a while now if your fur feels as soft as it looks. Do you think I could pet you once, before I leave? It doesn't have to be tonight-"

The cat meowed and Natsu paused as it got up on its back legs to rub higher on his leg. With its front paws on his leg, he didn't have to lean down far to be able to reach it. He savored that first touch, reveling in the kitten softness of its fur and the way its purr reverberated through his whole leg as he rubbed its head.

Suddenly, he was petting air and a yowl filled the air as he was knocked over. Another body was on top of him, one he recognized almost instantly. "Gray?! What the hell are you doing?!"

Gray cursed as the cat yowled and hissed. Natsu managed to get onto his knees only to see Gray trying to get the key off the cat. With a curse, Natsu reached forward to try and help the cat get away, but it managed to turn its head far enough to sink its teeth into Gray's hand, causing him to loosen his grip. The cat jumped away, its claws raking across both of Gray's arms before it bolted away.

"Lucky!" Natsu ran down the street, but when he got to the first intersection, he didn't see anything he could use to figure out which way it had gone.

"Shit that cat is vicious," Gray said as he joined him. Blood beaded up from the scratches, with multiple rivlets already making their way down his arms.

"What the hell man!" Natsu turned on his friend. "What was that?! I told you to leave the cat be!"

"Oh come on, that was the only chance I had of catching it! I wasn't just going to let it pass me by," Gray scoffed as he held his hands over his scratches. "Shit, what if that cat gives me something?"

Natsu completely ignored his comment. "You just ruined everything!" Heshoved his friend away before going to look for the cat again.

"What are you talking- hey, where are you going?!"

Natsu spent an hour searching every spot that he'd found the cat before. He checked in boxes, down alleys, on balconies, everywhere that he could, but he just couldn't find it. After he asked around and found out even the couple men out looking hadn't seen it, Natsu gave up. Too angry to go back, he ended up heading to the edge of town and sleeping in the woods.

The next day, he hoped he'd see it while he worked, but it didn't show up. When he went on his walk, he was let down once more when it wasn't there to greet him.

He didn't see the cat for the rest of the week, despite his efforts to find it.

* * *

"I'm sorry."

Natsu glanced over to see Gray staring at his fists. They hadn't spoken much since the incident with the cat. Natsu had come back to the room after the first night, but he avoided looking Gray's way as much as possible and avoided him while they worked. They'd sat with each other at meal times only because there weren't an overabundance of tables in the inn, and they didn't know anyone else. This was the first time Gray had tried to apologize, though.

"I told you I didn't want to help you catch the cat."

"I know." Gray scratched behind his neck. "It's just that you were petting the damn thing and you could have easily grabbed the key. I don't understand why you wouldn't do it."

"Because Lucky trusted me not to." Natsu fiddled with his food. "I'd only just gotten it to let me get that close."

Gray studied him for a moment before asking, "Why is it such a big deal that the cat ran off? It's just a cat."

Natsu sighed as he ran his hands through his hair. "It just is. That poor thing has been chased by greedy men every night for months. I just wanted to give it a break from all that, and the fact that it was willing to befriend me even when it would run from everyone else… it was nice."

Natsu expected Gray to say more, but he remained silent for the rest of the meal. They made light conversation that day at work, and when they were done, Gray disappeared. Too upset to do anything else, Natsu wandered around town again to clear his head.

He wondered if he should go talk to Lucy. Maybe if he talked to her, she could convince her cat to befriend him again.

With a groan, Natsu turned and started heading back to the inn. Why was he making such a fuss? They only had a couple days left before they headed back, he should be focusing on finishing up his work so they could go home. Happy would be missing him by now, and he didn't want to burden Lisanna for too long.

Still, he couldn't shake the emotions plaguing him, and after dinner, he made the trip across town to visit Lucy.

As the resident healer, and suspected witch according to rumors, everyone knew where Lucy lived. Many of the men he worked with had gone to visit her for one reason or another during their work days, and they always returned to the site gushing about how nice and beautiful she was. A few of them had even gotten hurt on purpose just so they could go see her.

Natsu stopped at the gate as he reconsidered, but a voice called out, inviting him in. He unlocked the gate, not sure how anyone would have even known he was there, and found himself in a rich, full lawn filled with a wide assortment of plants. There was a flat section of the yard covered in stone with a hammock hanging over it to his right that Lucy was currently getting out of.

"Hello," she greeted him politely. "Can I help you?"

Face warm from his embarrassment, Natsu realized just how crazy what he wanted to ask sounded. He was already there, though, so he was going to follow through damn it! "Uh, yeah. I don't know if you know, but I'm here with the group digging the new irrigation systems?"

"I knew you were new," she said, "so I expected as much. Did you injure yourself as well?"

"Huh? Oh, no. No nothing like that. Uh." He cleared his throat. "This is going to sound weird, but I've… well, I befriended your cat over the last few weeks."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him, obviously surprised. "Oh?"

"Yeah. It wasn't intentional, I just tried to help it once, and then we sort of found ourselves together a few times after that and then we started walking together every day. I wasn't trying to do anything fishy, I swear," he said fervently. "I have a cat back home, and it was just nice to talk to it since I don't have Happy around right now."

He sighed. "The thing is, a buddy of mine has been trying to catch your cat for the key, and he found out what I've been up to, so he followed me and tried to catch it when it finally let me pet it, and I haven't been able to find it since.

"I _swear_, I wasn't trying to help him get the key. I _just_ wanted to befriend your cat, but after that moron interfered, I can't find it anymore, and I'd really like to see it again before I leave in a few days."

Natsu pointed a finger at her, suddenly feeling the urge to share his thoughts about her stunt. "Also, that was a very foolish idea, to sick the single men of this town and the nearby villages on your poor cat. It hasn't had a moment's peace since then from what I hear, and that's just plain cruel."

Lucy contemplated him in silence, and it slowly sank in what he had just done. For a moment, he wondered what she'd do to him, if she really _was_ a watch like the town believed her to be. "I'm sorry," he said. "Nevermind. I'm just, uh, I'm just gonna go."

"Wait." Lucy stepped forward and smiled. "What's your name?"

"I'm Natsu."

Her smile widened. "Natsu. It suits you." She sighed. "Thank you, for coming to apologize. It means a lot. I had started to worry, honestly, that you weren't what you seemed."

"Uh…. what do you mean?" He cocked his head. "Have we met before?"

"In a sense," she chuckled. She stepped closer to the door. "Would you like to come inside? There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

"Uh, are you sure? I was really just here to apollo-" His eyes lit up. "Can I see your cat? I'd really like to talk to it."

"Lucky? Of course you can."

Natsu excitement shot up. "Is that its name?! I had no idea, but it was-"

She cut him off with a laugh. "No no, that's not her name."

Natsu gaped at her. "I don't understand. Then how did you… know…"

Eyes wide and mouth slowly falling open, he watched as she slowly shrunk. Her blonde hair shorted and spread as her body morphed and twisted. Her eyes remained locked on him as she slowly changed into the little tan cat. With a meow, she came forward and rubbed herself against his legs before bounding to her front door.

"You're the cat." Natsu took a small step forward. "You're the one everyone has been chasing." Another step. "You're who I've been talking to."

He groaned as his hands dove into his hair. "Oh my gods, that's _so embarrassing!_ You have to forget what you heard. All of it. I only talk to Happy like that, so don't judge me, please."

Lucy continued to watch him as she began to purr. The noise was so loud, he could hear it across the garden.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming."

When he reached the door, she moved over, but he couldn't get it open. He tried again before looking down at her. "It's locked."

She meowed and lifted her head higher, exposing the key around her neck. Natsu blinked rapidly before he squatted down, hand held out. "Are you sure?"

Lucy moved forward and bumped his hand with the key. He reached around and untied the string from her neck, taking the key as he stood. He studied it for a moment, but it was just an ordinary key. An ordinary key that he felt was about to completely change his life. Lucy curled around his leg, her purring sending vibrations up and down his leg. He looked down at her and stared into her big brown eyes as he made sure _he _was ready.

Then he reached forward and unlocked the door.


End file.
